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Washington's  Expeditions 

(1753-1754) 


and 


Braddock's  Expedition 

(1755) 


With  history  of  Tom 
Fausett,  the  slayer  of 
General  Edward  Braddock 


(SECOND    EDITION) 


By 

James  Hadden 

Uniontown,  Pa. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  congress 
in  the  year  1910,  by  James  Hadden, 
Uniontown,  Pa.,  in  the  office  of  the  Li 
brarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D. 
C. 


List  of  Illustrations 

Page. 

The   Great  Meadows   with   Fort  Necessity 
Outlined  in  the  Center — 1904.  .Frontispiece 

Major    George    Washington — 1754 8 

Rock  Fort  where  the  Half-King  was  En 
camped    22 

Ledge  of   Rocks   from   which   Washington 
Fired  on  the  French   26 

Jumonville's   Grave    28 

Road  over  which  Washington's  men  pull 
ed  the  cannon  by  hand 32 

Fort  Necessity    as    sketched    by    Freeman 
Lewis — 1816    52 

Washington's  Mill,  built  in  Fayette  Coun 
ty— 1776    58 


343643 


List   of  Illustrations    (continued) 

Chapter  II. 

Page 

General  Edward  Braddock   66 

Fort   Cumberland — 1755    70 

Braddock's   Battlefield    80 

Dunbar's    Encampment    86 

Braddock's  Watch    102 

Braddock's    Grave    104 

Chapter  III. 

Washington's   Springs    120 

Peddler's  Rocks   124 

Rebecca  Fausett,  Grand-daughter     of     Jo 
seph  Fausett   130 

Grave  of  Thomas  Fausett 138 


Preface. 

In  presenting  this  narrative  of  the  ex 
peditions  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  George 
Washington  and  Major  General  Edward 
Braddock  to  the  public  it  is  with  the  be 
lief  that  a  short  and  comprehensive  rela 
tion  of  these  two  important  events  in  the 
history  of  our  country  will  prove  both 
interesting  and  instructive. 

These  expeditions  were  the  initiatives 
of  a  great  struggle  between  two  great 
powers  to  decide  whether  America  was 
to  be  an  appendage  of  France  or  to  be 
come  the  land  of  an  English-speaking 
race. 

The  great  Mississippi  valley,  a  region 
vast  enough  and  fertile  enough  to  feed 
the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  was  a  goal 
far  more  to  be  desired  than  for  which 
the  armies  of  the  nations  had  ever  be 
fore  contended. 

Not  only  this,  but  these  expeditions 
schooled  the  colonists  in  the  arts  of  war 
and  gave  them  that  confidence  in  their 
prowess  that  enabled  them  later  suc 
cessfully  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  op 
pression  and  establish  a  new  nation 
which  is  now  attracting  the  wonder  and 
admiration  of  the  civilized  world. 


WASHINGTON'S      EXPEDITIONS— 
1753-1754. 

Washington's    Mission    to    the     French 
Posts  at  the  Head  of  the  Alle 
gheny  River,  1753. 

More  than  a  century  had  elapsed  after 
the  discovery  of  this  continent  by  the 
Cabots  before  the  first  English  settle 
ment  was  established  in  America,  and 
one  hundred  and  forty  years  more  had 
rolled  away  before  settlements  were  at 
tempted  west  of  the  Allegheny  Moun 
tains.  Thus  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  having  gained  possession  by 
discovery  had  England  been  content  to 
colonize  only  the  American  seaboard. 

The  French  had  made  settlements  on 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  by  the  last  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century  had  pushed 
their  way  along  the  shores  of  the  great 
lakes,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  eigh 
teenth  century  had  explored  the  country 
from  the  lakes  on  the  north  to  the  gulf 
on  the  south  and  from  the  Alleghenies 
on  the  east  to  the  Mississippi  on  the 


8  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

west,  and  had  established  their  trading 
posts  and  their  missions. 

Although  a  lucrative  business  had 
been  carried  on  for  some  years  by  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  fur 
traders  with  the  Indians  of  the  Ohio  Val 
ley,  no  systematic  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  English  colonists  had  been  made  to 
establish  settlements  west  of  the  Alle 
gheny  Mountains  until  1748,  when 
Thomas  Lee,  president  of  the  Virginia 
Council,  associated  with  himself  twelve 
other  gentlemen,  among  whom  were 
Gov.  Robert  Dinwiddie,  Lawrence  and 
Augustine  Washington  —  brothers  of 
George  Washington,  and  Mr.  John  Ham 
burg,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  London. 
This  company  was  to  be  known  as  the 
Ohio  Company,  and  a  royal  grant  was 
obtained  in  March,  1749,  for  a  tract  of 
five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  ly 
ing  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio  and  be 
tween  the  Monongahela  and  the  Kana- 
wha  rivers,  with  privilege  to  embrace  a 
portion  of  land  on  the  north  side  if 
deemed  expedient.  Two  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  were  to  be  selected  immedi 
ately,  the  whole  to  be  exempt  from  quit 
rent  for  ten  years,  the  company  agreeing 


Major  George  Washington  — 1754 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  9 

to  seat  one  hundred  families  on  the  same 
within  seven  years,  and  at  their  own  ex 
pense  to  build  a  fort  and  maintain  a  gari- 
rison  sufficient  to  protect  the  settlement. 
Christopher  Gist  was  employed  as  the 
agent  for  this  Ohio  Company  to  select 
the  lands  and  to  conciliate  the  Indians. 
With  these  objects  in  view  he  left  his 
home  on  the  banks  of  the  Yodkin,  near 
the  boundary  line  between  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  in  the  fall  of  1749,  and 
ascended  the  Potomac  to  the  mouth  of 
Will's  Creek.  From  here,  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  October,  he  proceeded  to  where 
Bedford  is  now  located,  and  from  thence 
to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio.  At  Logstown, 
about  sixteen  miles  below  the  Forks,  a 
conference  was  held  with  Tanacharison, 
a  Seneca  chief  of  great  note,  he  being 
head  Sachem  of  the  mixed  tribes,  which 
had  migrated  to  the  Ohio  and  its  tribu 
taries.  He  was  generally  surnamed  the 
Half-King,  being-  subordinate  to  the  Iro- 
quois  Confederacy,  and  was  a  man  of 
considerable  intelligence.  After  the 
usual  formalities  and  the  delivery  of 
t  _ny  presents  in  securing  the  friendship 
of  the  Indians,  Gist  passed  on  down  the 
Ohio  River  to  within  fifteen  miles  of  the 


10  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Falls,  and  thence  by  a  circuitous  route  he 
returned  to  Virginia  in  1751. 

In  1750  the  Ohio  Company  built  a 
small  storehouse  on  the  site  once  occu 
pied  by  the  Shawanee  town  Cainctucuc 
on  the  west  side  of  Will's  Creek  where 
that  stream  empties  into  the  Potomac 
River  and  where  the  city  of  Cumberland 
now  stands,  and  the  following  year  Col 
onel  Thomas  Cresap,  who  then  lived  at 
Shawanee  Old  Town,  was  employed  to 
open  out  a  road  from  Will's  Creek  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Monongahela.  He  wisely 
selected  for  his  assistant  a  Delaware 
Indian  by  the  name  of  Nemacolin,  whose 
residence  was  at  the  mouth  of  Nerna- 
colin's  Creek,  now  known  as  Dunlap's 
Creek,  on  the  Monongahela  River.  Be 
ginning  at  the  terminus  of  the  road  al 
ready  made,  to  the  storehouse  at  Will's 
Creek,  they  followed  an  old  trail  worn  by 
the  foot  of  the  red  man  centuries  before 
the  pale  face  beheld  the  outlines  of  a 
new  continent.  Running  westward  un 
til  reaching  the  crest  of  Laurel  Hill  this 
road  turned  abruptly  northward  along 
the  crest  of  the  mountain  and  descended 
the  western  slope,  where  it  joined  the  old 
Catawba  Trail  what  is  now  known  as  the 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  H 

Mt.  Braddock  farm.  From  this  point 
northward  this  road  was,  with  few  de 
viations,  identical  with  the  above  men 
tioned  trail,  crossing  the  Youghiogheny 
River  a  short  distance  below  the  present 
town  of  New  Haven,  passing  to  the  west 
of  the  location  of  Mount  Pleasant,  and 
when  reaching  a  point  to  the  west  of  the 
location  of  Greensburg  it  deflected  to 
the  west  and  on  to  the  Forks  of  the 
Ohio.  From  the  fact  that  Nemacolin 
was  employed  on  the  improvement  of 
the  trail  it  received  the  name  of  Nema- 
colin's  Trail,  which  name  it  retained  un 
til  Braddock's  army  passed  over  it,  since 
which  it  has  been  known  as  Braddock's 
Road. 

Gist  made  a  second  survey  for  the 
Ohio  Company  in  1752,  this  time  pass 
ing  over  the  Nemacolin  Trail  and  cross 
ing  the  Monongahela  below  where  Mc- 
Keesport  now  stands.  Returning,  he 
crossed  the  Monongahela  at  the  mouth 
of  Nemacolin  Creek,  where  he  met  his 
old  Indian  friend,  who  proposed  the  fol 
lowing  question :  "If  the  French  claim 
all  the  land  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  the 
English  all  on  the  south,  where  do  the 


12  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Indians'  lands  lie?"  This  question  went 
unanswered. 

Gist  had  selected  for  himself  twenty- 
five  hundred  acres  of  land  at  the  foot  of 
Laurel  Hill,  considering  this  within  the 
Ohio  Company's  grant,  and  in  1753  he 
here  established  a  small  settlement  con 
sisting  of  eleven  families.  He  built  his 
cabin  near  a  fine  spring  and  within  a  few 
rods  of  the  exact  geographical  center  of 
Fayette  County.  He  was  the  second  set 
tler  within  the  bounds  of  what  is  now 
Fayette  County,  Wendell  Brown  having 
preceded  him  by  one  year. 

In  1753  the  French  began  active  meas 
ures  to  secure  the  Ohio  valley  by  the 
force  of  arms  by  erecting  a  cordon  of 
forts  to  extend  from  Lake  Erie  down  the 
Allegheny  and  Ohio  rivers.  This  news 
soon  reached  the  ears  of  the  governor  of 
Virginia,  who  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  determined  to  dispatch  a  messeng 
er  to  demand  of  the  French  an  explana 
tion  of  their  design  and  warn  them  off. 

George  Washington,  then  in  his  twen 
ty-second  year,  was  commissioned  by 
Governor  Dinwiddie  as  a  special  envoy 
to  proceed  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Al 
legheny  and  deliver  the  message  to  Gen- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  13 

eral  St.  Pierre,  the  French  commander. 
He  started  out  on  his  journey  October 
thirtieth,  the  day  or  the  day  after  he  had 
received  his  credentials,  and  arrived  at 
Will's  Creek  November  fourteenth.  Here 
he  secured  the  services  of  Christopher 
Gist  as  guide,  John  Davidson  as  Indian 
interpreter,  Captain  Jacob  Van  Braam 
as  French  interpreter ;  Curram  and  Mc- 
Quire,  Indian  traders,  and  Stewart  and 
Jenkins — these  four  as  servitors. 

From  here  they  followed  the  Nema- 
colin  Trail,  passing  Gist's  new  settle 
ment,  and  after  seven  days  reached 
Frazier's  trading  post  at  the  mouth  of 
Turtle  Creek,  on  the  Monongahela  River. 
Passing  on  down  they  arrived  at  Logs- 
town,  about  sixteen  miles  below  the 
Forks,  after  sunset  November  twenty- 
fourth.  Here  a  consultation  was  held 
with  Tanacharison,  the  Half-King; 
Monacatootha,  the  next  in  command, 
and  other  frienaly  Indians  of  the  mixed 
tribes,  some  of  which  Washington  en 
gaged  to  accompany  him  to  Venango, 
the  advance  post  of  the  French.  Here 
they  arrived  December  fourth,  and  found 
the  French  flag  flying  over  the  log  house 
from  which  Frazier,  the  English  trader, 


14  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

had  been  driven  and  which  was  now  oc 
cupied  by  Joncaire,  who  referred  Wash 
ington  to  the  commanding  officer, 
whose  headquarters  were  at  Le  Boeuf, 
the  fort  lately  built  a  short  distance 
above  on  French  Creek.  Here  he  was 
courteously  received  by  Legardeur  de 
St.  Pierre,  who  promised  to  forward  his 
message  to  the  governor-general  of 
Canada,  and  refused  to  discuss  the  great 
questions  involving  the  remonstrance  of 
Virginia,  but  stated  that  he  would  in  the 
meantime  hold  his  position  to  the  best 
of  his  ability,  and  intended,  further,  to 
eject  every  Englishman  from  the  Ohio 
valley. 

His  mission  fulfilled,  Washington,  af 
ter  much  delay,  started  back,  and  becom 
ing  impatient  of  the  company  he  and 
Gist  alone  concluded  to  strike  out  on 
foot  across  the  country.  After  much  fa 
tigue  and  suffering,  being  shot  at  by  a 
treacherous  Indian  and  nearly  lost  in  the 
Allegheny  River,  they  reached  Frazier's 
house  once  more.  They  left  Frazier's  on 
January  i,  1754,  and  reached  Gist's  plan 
tation  on  January  second.  Here  they 
procured  horses  and  pressed  on,  reach 
ing  Will's  creek  on  the  sixth.  Washing- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  15 

ton  spent  the  night  with  Gist,  and  met 
seventeen  horses  loaded  with  material 
and  stores  for  the  fort  at  the  Forks  of 
the  Ohio,  and  the  day  after  some  families 
going1  out  to  settle.  The  Ohio  Com 
pany,  having  determined  to  build  their 
fort  at  the  Forks  and  to  establish  trad 
ing  posts  at  Frazier's  and  elsewhere,  were 
proceeding  energetically  toward  the  ac 
complishment  of  these  objects.  He  de 
livered  the  message  of  Saint  Pierre  and 
made  a  full  report  of  his  journey  to  the 
governor  at  Williamsburg  on  the  six 
teenth  of  January ;  thus  Washington's 
first  important  public  service  was  ac 
complished. 

Before  Washington  had  returned  from 
his  mission  to  the  French  forts  the  Ohio 
Company  had  appealed  to  Governor  Din- 
widdie  for  military  protection  at  their 
fort  already  begun  at  the  Forks,  in  com 
pliance  with  which,  early  in  January  of 
1754,  Wm.  Trent,  an  explorer,  who  at 
this  time  was  engaged  in  erecting  a 
strong  log  storehouse  at  the  mouth  of 
Redstone  Creek  on  the  Monongahela 
River  for  the  Ohio  Company — this  being 
the  next  storehouse  west  of  that  already 
built  at  Will's  Creek,  was  commissioned  as 


16  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

captain,  John  Frazier,  before  mentioned, 
as  lieutenant,  and  Edward  Ward,  ap 
pointed  as  ensign,  were  authorized  to 
raise  a  company  of  militia  of  one  hun 
dred  men,  proceed  to  the  Forks  and 
finish  and  garrison  the  fort  already  be 
gun. 

Trent  proceeded  by  Nemacolin's  Trail 
as  far  as  Gist's  plantation,  and  from 
thence  to  the  mouth  of  Redstone,  where 
after  finishing  the  Hangard  he  returned 
to  Will's  Creek,  leaving  Ensign  Ward  in 
command  to  proceed  to  the  Forks,  at 
which  place  he  arrived  on  the  seven 
teenth  of  February.  Here  with  Gist  and 
George  Croghan  they  proceeded  to  fin 
ish  the  fort,  which  was  supplied  with  ten 
four-pound  field  pieces  and  eighty  bar 
rels  of  powder  and  a  supply  of  small 
arms. 

The    French    descend    the    Allegheny   in 
considerable  force. 

Everything  seemed  quiet  until  the  Alle 
gheny,  freed  from  ice,  opened  in  the 
spring.  On  April  thirteenth  Ensign 
Ward  received  notice  that  the  French 
were  descending  the  river  in  consider 
able  force. 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  17 

The  following  day  he  dispatched  a  let 
ter  to  Captain  Trent  at  Will's  Creek, 
and  went  directly  himself  to  Lieutenant 
Frazier  at  Turtle  Creek,  who  replied  that 
he  could  not  leave  his  work,  as  by  doing 
so  he  would  lose  shillings  for  every 
pence  he  would  receive  for  his  services. 
The  following  morning  Ensign  Ward 
sent  for  the  Half-King  and  one  of  his 
chiefs  named  Serreneatta,  and  set  to 
work  to  finish  the  stockade.  They  had 
the  last  gate  erected  before  the  French 
appeared. 

On  the  seventeenth  Contrecoeur  ap 
peared  before  the  fort  with  three  hun 
dred  wooden  canoes  and  sixty  bateaux 
with  four  men  to  each,  eighteen  pieces  of 
cannon,  three  of  which  were  nine-pound 
ers.  A  landing  was  made  a  small  dis 
tance  from  the  fort,  and  Le  Mercier  was 
sent  to  demand  a  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Looking  at  his  watch,  which  indicated 
two  o'clock,  he  demanded  that  an  an 
swer  be  delivered  at  the  French  camp  in 
writing  within  one  hour.  Ensign  Ward 
spent  half  of  this  hour  in  consulting 
with  the  Half-King,  who  advised  him  to 
acquaint  the  French  commander  that  he 
was  not  an  officer  of  rank,  nor  invested 


18  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

with  power  to  answer  his  demand,  and 
to  request  him  to  await  the  arrival  of 
the  principal  commander.  Contrecoeur 
was  inflexible,  and  demanded  an  answer 
that  instant. 

Ward  saw  the  French  to  number  about 
a  thousand,  and  his  own  force  being 
forty-one  in  all — only  thirty-three  of 
which  were  soldiers,  he  surrendered, 
with  liberty  to  march  off  with  everything 
belonging  thereto  by  twelve  o'clock  the 
next  day.  He  encamped  within  three 
hundred  yards  of  the  fort  with  a  party 
of  friendly  Indians.  The  French  com 
mander  sent  for  him  to  supper  and  made 
many  inquiries  as  to  the  intention  of  the 
English,  but  Ward  refused  to  impart 
the  desired  information.  The  command 
er  then  tried  to  buy  some  carpenter 
tools,  which  Ward  refused  to  sell. 

The  following  morning  Ensign  Ward 
received  a  speech  from  Half-King  to  the 
governor  and  proceeded  with  all  his  men 
to  Redstone,  where  he  arrived  in  two 
days,  and  from  there  to  Will's  Creek, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  twenty-second 
and  met  Colonel  Washington  on  his  way 
to  the  Forks. 

The     French     immediately     completed 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  19 

the  stockade  evacuated  by  Ensign  Ward 
and  named  it  Fort  Duquesne  in  honor  of 
the  governor-general  of  Canada. 

The  reply  of  the  French  general,  Saint 
Pierre,  together  with  the  information  re 
ceived  from  Washington,  convinced  Gov 
ernor  Dinwiddie  that  inaction  on  his 
part  would  lose  to  the  English  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Ohio. 

Washington  is  commissioned  Major  and 
ordered  against  the  French. 

He  therefore  commissioned  Wash 
ington  as  major,  with  authority  to  en 
list  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  pro 
ceed  to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  to  finish 
the  fort  already  begun,  to  make  prison 
ers  and  to  kill  or  destroy  all  who  inter 
rupted  the  English  settlement.  This 
commission  was  soon  raised  to  that  of 
lieutenant-colonel,  and  the  number  of 
men  increased  to  three  hundred,  to  be 
divided  into  six  companies.  Enlistments 
were  encouraged  by  a  royal  grant  of  two 
hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  to  be 
divided  among  them.  Colonel  Joshua 
Fry,  an  English  gentleman,  was  appoint 
ed  to  command  the  whole,  and  was  to 


20  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

follow  with  the  artillery  to  be  conveyed 
up  the  Potomac.  The  first  intention  was 
to  make  a  wagon  road  from  Will's 
Creek,  to  which  point  the  Ohio  Com 
pany  had  already  opened  a  road,  to  the 
mouth  of  Redstone,  and  there  erect  a 
fort;  thence,  when  reenforced,  to  pro 
ceed  against  the  French  at  the  Forks. 
With  these  objects  in  view  Washington 
started  from  Alexandria,  Virginia,  April 
2,  1754,  with  two  companies,  amounting 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  hav 
ing  been  joined  on  the  route  by  a  detach 
ment  under  Captain  Adam  Stephens,  ar 
rived  at  Will's  Creek,  April  twentieth. 
and  two  days  later  Ensign  Ward  arrived 
with  the  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of 
the  works  at  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio. 

From  here  sixty  men  were  sent  for 
ward  to  widen  the  Nemacolin  Trail,  and 
and  April  twenty-ninth  the  army  moved 
from  Will's  Creek,  and  by  the  ninth  of 
May  were  encamped  at  the  Little  Mead 
ows,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  Here 
Washington  received  information  that 
Contrecoeur  had  been  reenforced  with 
eight  hundred  men,  and  expresses  were 
immediately  sent  to  the  governors  of 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  Maryland 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  21 

requesting  reenforcements.  and  after 
consultation  with  his  brother  officers  de 
cided  to  advance.  Castleman  Creek  was 
two  miles  west  of  Little  Meadows,  and 
here  more  than  two  days  were  spent  in 
bridging-  the  stream ;  this  was  named  the 
Little  Crossings.  On  the  eighteenth  the 
Youghiogheny  River  was  reached,  seven 
teen  miles  west  of  the  Little  Crossings, 
and  although  the  army  was  enabled  to 
cross  without  bridging,  this  place  was 
named  the  Big  Crossings. 

While  the  army  lay  here  several  days 
Washington,  with  Lieutenant  West, 
three  soldiers  and  an  Indian  descended 
the  river  in  a  canoe  to  ascertain  if  it  was 
navigable  for  the  transportation  of  the 
artillery,  which  they  had  been  obliged 
to  drag  by  hand  since  leaving  Will's 
Creek.  This  journey  ended  in  disap 
pointment  at  the  Falls,  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles  from  the  Great  Crossings. 
Scarcely  had  Washington  returned  from 
his  journey  to  the  falls  when  a  messeng 
er  arrived  from  his  old  friend,  the  Half- 
King,  that  a  detachment  of  French  was 
marching  toward  him  with  a  determina 
tion  to  make  an  attack,  and  that  he  (the 
Half-King)  would  be  on  in  five  days  to 


22  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

hold  a  council.  Washington  thereupon 
hastened  to  the  Great  Meadows,  a  dis 
tance  of  about  fifty-one  miles  west  of 
Will's  Creek,  reaching-  this  place  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  May,  and  here  he 
again  received  intelligence  that  the 
French  were  on  their  way  to  meet  him. 
A  halt  was  made  and  a  stockade  erected, 
and  by  clearing  away  the  brush  and  un 
dergrowth,  prepared,  as  he  said,  "a  most 
charming  field  for  an  encounter." 

A  scouting  party  was  sent  out  on 
wagon  horses  to  reconnoitre,  but  return 
ed  without  having  seen  an  enemy.  The 
same  evening  the  Half-King's  warning 
was  confirmed  by  a  trader,  who  told  that 
the  French  were  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Youghiogheny,  eighteen  miles  distant 
from  the  Big  Crossings,  and  known  as 
Stewart's  Crossing*,  as  William  Stewart 
lived  near  that  place  in  1753  and  part  of 
1754,  and  was  driven  out  by  the  French. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  night  an 
alarm  was  given.  The  sentries  fired  up 
on  what  they  mistook  to  be  prowling 
foes ;  the  troops  sprang  to  arms  and  re 
mained  on  the  alert  until  daybreak.  Not 
an  enemv  was  to  be  seen.  The  roll  was 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  23 

called  and  six  men  were  missing,  having 
deserted. 

On  May  twenty-seventh  Mr.  Gist 
came  in  and  reported  that  La  Force,  with 
a  detachment  of  about  fifty  men,  had 
been  seen  at  his  place,  about  fifteen 
miles  distant,  and  that  he  had  just  come 
upon  their  tracks  within  five  miles  of 
the  camp,  whereupon  Washington  sent 
a  detachment  of  seventy-five  men  in  pur 
suit  of  him  and  his  band,  but  the  scouts 
returned  without  having  discovered  the 
enemy. 

The   Half-King   Joins   Washington. 

Between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  that 
same  night  a  messenger  arrived  from 
Half-King,  who  with  his  followers  was 
then  encamped  at  the  Big  Rock,  about 
six  miles  off,  with  the  information  that 
he  had  tracked  two  men  who  were  out 
as  scouts,  and  was  satisfied  that  the 
whole  force  was  in  ambush  near  by. 
Washington,  fearing  a  stratagem,  left  a 
strong  guard  to  protect  the  baggage,  and 
with  a  detachment  of  forty  men  set  out 
before  ten  o'clock  to  join  the  Indian  al 
lies.  They  groped  their  way  along  the 


24  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

footpath  in  a  heavy  rain  and  murky 
darkness,  so  that  it  was  nearly  sunrise 
when  they  reached  the  encampment  of 
Half-King.  From  here  the  Half-King 
and  his  associate  sachem,  Scarooyada — 
or  Monacatootha,  conducted  Washington 
to  the  tracks  which  had  been  discovered. 
Upon  these  he  put  two  of  his  Indians, 
who  followed  them  up  like  hounds  and 
brought  back  word  that  they  had  traced 
them  to  a  low  bottom  surrounded  by 
rocks  and  trees,  where  the  French  were 
encamped,  having  built  a  few  cabins  for 
shelter  from  the  rain. 

A  plan  of  attack  was  now  determined 
upon  to  come  upon  them  by  surprise. 
Washington  and  his  men  formed  on  the 
right,  Half-King  and  his  men  on  the  left, 
and  with  ghost-like  silence  they  advanc 
ed  to  the  brow  of  the  ledge  of  rocks  be 
neath  which  the  French  were  encamped. 
Washington  was  in  the  advance,  and  as 
the  French  caught  sight  of  him  they  flew 
to  arms.  A  sharp  fire  ensued,  which 
lasted  for  fifteen  minutes,  when  the 
French  gave  way  and  ran.  They  were 
soon  overtaken,  and  twenty-one  pris 
oners  taken.  Washington's  men  on  the 
right  received  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  One 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  25 

man  was  killed  and  three  wounded  near 
Washington,  the  Indians  sustaining-  no 
loss.  The  French  had  ten  killed  and  one 
wounded.  One,  a  bare-footed  Canadian, 
named  Mouceau,  escaped  and  carried 
the  tidings  of  the  defeat  to  the  Forks. 
Monsieur  Jumonville,  their  commander, 
was  shot  through  the  head  at  the  first 
fire,  and  his  fate  has  been  made  the  sub 
ject  of  lamentation  in  prose  and  verse. 
The  Indians  soon  scalped  the  dead,  and 
would  have  killed  and  scalped  the  pris 
oners  had  not  Washington  prevented 
them. 

This  battle,  fought  at  daybreak  on  the 
morning  of  May  28,  1754,  was  the  first 
in  which  Washington  ever  took  a  part ; 
it  was  the  initial  battle  which  lost  to  the 
French  so  much  of  her  possessions  on 
American  soil,  and  as  Francis  Parkman 
tersely  put  it,  "in  it  was  fired  the  shot 
that  was  heard  around  the  world/'  Wash 
ington,  in  writing  of  this  occasion,  said : 
"And,  believe  me,  the  whistling  of  the 
bullets  had  a  most  charming  sound." 

Jumonville  was  a  native  of  Picardy, 
one  of  the  old  French  provinces  border 
ing  on  the  English  Channel.  His  name 
was  N.  Coition  de  Jumonville,  and  he 


26  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

was  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years, 
therefore  seven  years  the  senior  of 
Washington.  Early  in  life  he  came  to 
Canada  and  married.  He  left  a  widow 
and  one  daughter.  In  1755,  one  year 
after  his  death,  the  widow  wras  pension 
ed  in  a  small  sum,  and  in  1775  the 
daughter,  then  grown  to  womanhood, 
took  the  veil  as  Charlotte  Amiable. 

Of  the  twenty-one  prisoners  taken  at 
this  engagement  the  two  most  important 
were  an  officer  of  some  consequence, 
named  Drouillion,  and  the  subtle  and  re 
doubtable  La  Force.  As  Washington 
considered  the  latter  an  arch  mischief- 
maker,  wrho  had  made  considerable 
trouble  at  Venango  the  year  previous, 
he  now  rejoiced  to  have  him  within  his 
power.  The  prisoners  were  conducted 
to  the  camp  at  the  Great  Meadows,  and 
from  there,  on  the  following  day,  were 
sent  under  a  strong  escort  to  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  who  was  at  Winchester, 
Virgina.  They  wrere  treated  with  great 
courtesy  by  Washington,  who  furnished 
Drouillion  and  La  Force  with  clothing 
from  his  own  scanty  stock,  and  at 
their  request  gave  them  letters  to  the 
governor  bespeaking  for  them  the  "re- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  27 

spect  and  favor  due  their  character  and 
personal  merit." 

The  Half-King  was  now  fully  aroused. 
He  sent  the  scalps  of  the  Frenchmen 
slain  in  the  late  skirmish,  accompanied 
with  black  wampum  and  hatchets,  to  all 
his  allies,  summoning  them  to  take  up 
arms  and  join  him  at  Redstone  Creek, 
''for  their  brothers,  the  English,  had  now 
begun  in  earnest."  He  went  off  to  his 
home,  promising  to  send  down  the  river 
for  all  the  Mingoes  and  Shawanees  and 
to  be  back  at  the  camp  on  the  thirteenth 
with  thirty  or  forty  warriors  accom 
panied  by  their  wives  and  children.  To 
assist  him  in  the  transportation  of  his 
people  and  their  effects  thirty  men  were 
detached,  and  twenty  horses. 

A  pile  of  stones  and  a  rude  cross  mark 
ed  the  grave  of  Jumonville  until  July 
4th,  1908,  when  a  tablet  was  erected 
bearing  the  following  inscription : 

Here  lie  the  mortal  remains 

of 

N.  Coulon  de  Jumonville, 
who    in     command    of     thirty-three 
French   regulars,  was   surprised  and 
killed  in  an  engagement  with  Major 


28  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

George  Washington,  in  command 
of  forty  provincial  troops,  and  Tan- 
nacharison,  the  Half-King,  in  com 
mand  of  a  company  of  friendly  Indi 
ans,  on  May  28,  1754. 

This  action  was  the  first  conflict 
at  arms  between  the  French  and 
English  for  supremacy  in  the  Mis 
sissippi  valley. 

Erected  July  4th,  1908,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Centennial  Commit 
tee  of  1904. 

Washington's  situation  now  wras  ex 
tremely  perilous.  Contrecoeur  had  fin 
ished  the  fort  from  which  Ward  had  been 
driven.  He  had  already  nearly  one  thou 
sand  men  with  him,  and  reenforcements 
and  Indian  allies  were  on  their  way  to 
join  him.  Messengers  sent  by  Jumon- 
ville  previous  to  the  late  affray  apprised 
him  of  the  weakness  of  the  encampment 
at  the  Great  Meadows. 

Washington  lost  no  time  in  enlarg 
ing  the  entrenchments  and  erecting  pali 
sades.  He  wrote  to  Colonel  Fry,  who 
lay  sick  at  Will's  Creek,  having  been 
seriously  injured  by  his  horse  falling  on 
him,  urging  immediate  reenforcements, 


Jumonville's  Grave 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  29 

but  at  the  same  time  declaring  his  reso 
lution  to  "fight  with  unequal  numbers 
rather  than  give  up  one  inch  of  what  he 
had  gained."  The  Half-King  and  Queen 
Aliquippa  and  twenty-five  or  thirty  fami 
lies,  making  in  all  eighty  to  one  hundred 
Indians,  arrived  at  the  Great  Meadows  on 
June  first. 

Colonel  Fry  died  on  the  thirty-first  of 
May,  a  few  days  after  the  accident,  and 
Major  Muse  took  command  and  joined 
Washington,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
ninth  of  June  with  the  residue  of  the  Vir 
ginia  regiment  and  nine  swivel  guns, 
powder  and  balls.  Major  Muse  had 
served  with  Lawrence  Washington  in  the 
campaign  of  the  West  Indies,  and  had 
been  writh  him  in  the  attack  on  Cartha- 
gena.  He  had  been  Washington's  in 
structor  three  years  before  in  the  manual 
of  arms,  and  was  now  acting  as  quarter 
master.  By  the  death  of  Colonel  Fry 
the  chief  command  devolved  upon  Major 
Washington,  who  was  commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel  on  June  fourth. 

Captain  James  Mackaye,  with  an  inde 
pendent  company  of  the  royal  army,  com 
posed  of  one  hundred  men  from  South 
Carolina,  joined  Washington  on  the  tenth 


30  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

of  June,  bringing  with  him  sixty  beeves, 
five  days'  allowance  of  flour  and  some 
ammunition,  but  no  cannon,  as  was  ex 
pected.  Captain  Mackaye  bearing  a 
king's  commission,  could  not  receive  or 
ders  from  a  provincial  colonel,  and  camp 
ed  separate  from  Washington's  forces; 
neither  would  his  men  do  work  on  the 
road,  as  it  was  not  incumbent  upon  them 
as  king's  soldiers  to  perform  such  meni 
al  service.  The  force  now  encamped  at 
the  Great  Meadows  numbered  about  four 
hundred  men. 

Leaving  Captain  Mackaye  with  one 
company  to  guard  the  fort,  to  thus 
avoid  mutiny  and  a  conflict  of  authority, 
Washington  and  the  rest  of  the  force, 
on  the  sixteenth  of  June,  pushed  on  over 
Laurel  Hill,  cutting  the  road  with  ex 
treme  labor,  to  Gist's  plantation— a  dis 
tance  of  about  thirteen  miles,  consum 
ing  two  weeks  in  the  work,  taking  writh 
him  some  wagons  and  the  swivels. 

On  June  twenty-seventh  a  detachment 
of  seventy  men  under  command  of  Cap 
tain  Lewis  was  sent  forward  to  clear  the 
road  from  Gist's  to  the  mouth  of  Red 
stone.  Ahead  of  this  was  sent  a  party 
under  Captain  Poison,  who  were  to  re- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  31 

connoitre.    Meanwhile  Washington  com 
pleted  his  movements  to  Gist's. 

Washington  Retreats  to  the  Great  Mead 
ows  and  Strengthens  Fort  Necessity. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  a  council  of  war 
was  held  at  Gist's  at  which  it  was  de 
termined  to  concentrate  all  the  forces  at 
this  point,  where  some  entrenchments 
had  been  already  thrown  up,  with  a 
view  of  making  a  stand.  This  entrench 
ment  was  near  Gist's  Indian's  hut  and 
a  fine  spring,  and  within  fifty  rods  of  the 
geographical  center  of  Fayette  County. 

Captains  Lewis  and  Poison  were  call 
ed  in,  and  Captain  Mackaye  and  his 
company  were  sent  for.  They  all  came, 
but  upon  receiving  later  news  of  the 
superior  force  of  the  French  it  was  ap 
parent  that  a  stand  here  was  inexpedi 
ent  and  that  they  should  fall  back  as  far 
as  Will's  Creek  and  await  reenforce- 
ments.  The  private  baggage  was  left  be 
hind,  and  the  horses  of  the  officers  were 
laden  writh  ammunition  and  public  stores. 
The  soldiers  of  the  Virginia  regiment 
dragged  the  nine  swivels  by  hand,  the 
members  of  the  independent  company 


32  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

looking  on  and  offering  no  aid.  They 
reached  the  Great  Meadows  on  the  first 
day  of  July.  Here  the  men  were  so  ex 
hausted  by  their  labors  and  lack  of  nour 
ishment  that  they  could  not  draw  their 
swivels  nor  carry  their  baggage  on  their 
backs  any  farther.  They  had  been  eight 
days  without  bread.  They  had  milch 
cows  for  beef,  but  had  no  salt  with  which 
to  season  it,  nor  were  the  supplies  which 
had  been  left  at  the  stockade  adequate  to 
sustain  the  march.  It  was  thought  best, 
therefore,  to  here  await  both  the  supplies 
and  reenforcements,  having  now  but  two 
poor  teams  and  a  few  equally  poor  pack 
horses. 

Washington  immediately  set  his  men 
to  work  to  strengthen  the  fortifications, 
and  under  the  supervision  of  Captain  Sto- 
bo  a  ditch  and  additional  dimensions 
and  strength  were  given  to  the  fort, 
which  was  now  given  the  name  of  Fort 
Necessity  on  account  of  the  extreme 
need  of  the  troops. 

Hearing  of  the  arrival  at  Alexandria  of 
two  independent  companies  from  New 
York  some  days-  before  it  was  supposed 
that  they  might  by  this  time  have  arriv 
ed  at  Will's  Creek,  and  a  messenger  was 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  33 

dispatched  to  urge  them  up.  Horses 
were  hired  to  go  to  Will's  Creek  for  more 
ammunition  and  provisions,  Gist  endeav 
oring  to  have  the  artillery  hauled  out  by 
Pennsylvania  teams.  It  was  ascertained 
that  the  two  independent  companies  from 
New  York  and  the  one  from  North 
Carolina  would  fail  to  arrive  until  too 
late,  and  they  only  reached  Will's  Creek 
after  the  surrender  of  Forty  Necessity. 
No  artillery  came  in  time,  only  ten  of  the 
thirty  four-pound  cannon  and  carriages 
which  had  been  sent  from  England 
reaching  Will's  Creek  until  too  late. 

Besides  the  Indians  already  mentioned 
as  crowding  into  the  fort,  many  of  the 
settlers  with  their  families  sought  pro 
tection  under  the  English  arms.  The 
warriors  expected  and  promised  by  the 
Half-King  from  the  Muskingum  and 
Miami  countries  failed  to  join  W'ashing- 
ton. 

From  the  time  news  reached  Fort  Du- 
quesne  of  the  defeat  of  Jumonville  the 
greatest  activity  prevailed.  On  the 
twenty-eighth  of  June,  just  one  month 
after  that  affair,  a  force  of  five  hundred 
French  and  one  hundred  Indians,  after 
wards  augmented  to  four  hundred,  left 


34  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Fort  Duquesne  under  command  of  M. 
Coulon,de  Villiers,  a  half-brother  to  Ju- 
monville,  who  sought  the  command  as  a 
special  favor  to  enable  him,  as  he  termed 
it,  to  avenge  the  "assassination"  of  his 
kinsman. 

De  Villiers  passed  up  the  Mononga- 
hela  on  the  thirtieth  of  June,  and  then 
moved  on  to  Gist's  settlement,  a  distance 
of  about  sixteen  miles,  reaching  the  place 
early  the  morning  of  the  second  of  July. 
Opening  fire  upon  the  rude  half-finished 
fort,  and  receiving  no  response,  he  found 
the  place  deserted.  He  thereupon  pre 
pared  to  return  to  Fort  Duquesne,  when 
a  deserter  arrived  from  Fort  Necessity, 
who  revealed  the  whereabouts  and 
wretched  condition  of  Washington's 
forces.  He  concluded  to  press  on  in  pur 
suit  of  the  English.  He  ascended  the 
mountain  by  the  road  just  opened  by 
Washington,  passed  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  where  his  half-brother  had  fal 
len  a  little  over  a  month  before,  and  came 
within  sight  of  Fort  Necessity,  after  a 
rainy  night,  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  of  July.  He  immediately  delivered 
the  first  fire  from  the  woods,  at  a  dis 
tance  of  four  or  five  hundred  yards.  The 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  35 

first  position  taken  by  the  French  was  in 
the  northwest,  but  afterwards  they  took 
position  on  the  east  and  southeast,  near 
the  fort.  Washington  formed  his  men 
on  the  south,  in  the  meadow  outside  the 
fort,  in  order  to  draw  the  enemy  into  an 
open  encounter.  Failing  in  this  he  re 
tired  behind  the  lines.  The  heavy  rains 
the  previous  night  had  made  the  trenches 
untenable  for  Captain  Mackaye's  com 
pany.  The  French  then  took  position 
on  an  eminence  on  the  north,  about 
sixty  yards  distant,  and  the  Indians  took 
position  behind  trees  and  in  tree  tops. 
For  nine  hours,  during  a  rain  storm,  the 
assailants  poured  an  incessant  shower  of 
balls  upon  the  little  band  crowded  with 
in  the  lines  of  the  fort.  The  English  re 
plied  with  vigor,  and  toward  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening  the  conflict  grew  in  ani 
mation,  and  continued  until  eight  o'clock. 
Washington's  tranquil  presence  encour 
aged  his  men  and  deceived  the  enemy. 

Washington   Makes   His   First   and   His 
Last  Surrender. 

De  Villiers,  fearing  his  ammunition 
would  fail,  proposed  a  parley,  which 
Washington  at  first  declined,  but  when 


36  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

repeated  it  was  granted.  The  articles  of 
capitulation  were  written  in  the  French 
language,  which,  after  sundry  modifica 
tions  in  Washington's  favor,  were  sign 
ed  in  duplicate — in  the  rain,  by  the  light 
of  a  candle — by  Captain  James  Mackaye, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  George  Washington 
and  Coulon  Villiers.  According  to  the 
articles  agreed  to  the  garrison  were  al 
lowed  to  remove  all  their  belongings  ex 
cept  the  artillery  and  to  march  out  with 
drums  beating,  and  to  have  protection, 
from  insult  or  injury  by  the  French  or 
Indians.  The  English  were  to  deliver  up 
the  officers,  two  cadets  and  the  prisoners 
made  at  the  defeat  of  Jumonville,  and 
send  them  under  safeguard  to  Fort  Du- 
quesne  within  two  months  and  a  half  at 
the  farthest.  A  duplicate  of  the  articles 
was  fixed  upon  one  of  the  posts  of  the 
stockade.  Jacob  Van  Braam  and  Robert 
Stobo,  both  captains,  were  delivered  as 
hostages  to  the  French  officer  as  surety 
for  the  faithful  compliance  of  the  English 
to  the  articles  of  capitulation. 

There  were  at  the  encampment  at  the 
Great  Meadows  at  the  time  of  the  sur 
render  about  four  hundred  persons. 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  37 

In  this  engagement  it  is  reported  that 
Washington  lost  thirty  men  killed  and 
forty-two  wounded.  Captain  Mackaye's 
loss  was  never  reported.  The  French 
had  two  men  killed  and  seventy  wound 
ed,  two  whereof  were  Indians. 

By  daylight  the  following  morning 
the  English  flag  was  struck  and  the 
French  flag  took  its  place.  The  humil 
iated  garrison  took  the  situation  as 
cheerfully  as  possible  under  the  circum 
stances,  and  with  banners  flying  and 
drums  beating,  the  little  army  wend 
ed  its  way  towards  Will's  Creek.  In 
its  wake  followed  a  retinue  of  settlers 
and  adherents.  The  lilies  of  France  now 
floated  in  undisputed  victory  over  every 
fort,  trading  post  and  mission  from  the 
Allegheny  Mountains  westward  to  the 
Mississippi  River.  No  sooner  had  the 
English  garrison  filed  out  of  Fort  Ne 
cessity  than -the  French  began  its  demo 
lition.  This  accomplished  to  their  grati 
fication  they  began  retracing  their  steps 
toward  the  mouth  of  Redstone  the  same 
day,  for  fear  of  re-enforcements  as  had 
been  requested  by  Washington,  and  en 
camped  about  two  leagues  distant — per 
haps  at  the  Big  Rock,  where  the  Half- 


38  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

King  had  encamped  the  night  before  the 
attack  on  Jumonville.  Doubtless  DeVil- 
liers  turned  aside  and  visited  the  spot 
where  his  half-brother  had  fallen  and 
tenderly  covered  the  remains  with  earth 
and  stone  to  prevent  their  destruction 
by  wild  beasts  and  to  mark  the  spot  of 
their  last  resting  place. 

They  reached  the  abandoned  entrench 
ment  at  Gist's  on  the  fifth,  and  after  de 
molishing  what  was  of  it  they  burned  all 
the  contiguous  houses.  They  reached 
the  mouth  of  Redstone  at  ten  o'clock 
next  day,  where  they  proceeded  to  burn 
the  Hangard  and  then  re-embarked  on 
the  Monongahela,  returning  to  Fort  Du- 
quesne  on  the  seventh. 

Fort  Necessity  was  in  a  glade  between 
two  eminences,  which  were  covered  with 
forests,  except  within  sixty  yards  of  it. 
The  road  by  which  Washington's  army 
had  advanced  passed  within  a  few  feet 
on  the  south,  and  Great  Meadow  run 
skirted  the  base  line  on  the  north. 

The  fort  was  in  the  form  of  an  obtuse 
angled  triangle  of  one  hundred  and  five 
degrees,  its  base  resting  on  Great  Mea 
dow  Run,  about  two  perches  of  which 
were  thrown  across  the  stream  arid  con- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  39 

nected  with  the  base  by  lines  perpendic 
ular  to  the  opposite  lines  of  the  triangle. 
The  base  was  eleven  perches  long,  the 
western  seven  perches  and  the  eastern 
line  six  perches.  About  fifty  square 
perches  of  land,  or  nearly  one-third  of 
an  acre,  were  included  within  these  lines. 
The  embankments  in  1816  were  still 
three  feet  high  above  the  level  of  the 
meadow.  The  outside  trenches,  in  which 
Captain  Mackaye's  men  were  stationed 
when  the  fight  began,  and  from  which 
they  were  flooded  out,  were  already  filled 
up,  but  inside  the  lines  were  ditches  of 
about  two  feet  in  depth,  formed  by 
throwing  the  earth  up  against  the  pali 
sades.  It  is  ten  miles  east  of  Union- 
town,  and  about  eight  hundred  yards 
south  of  the  National  Road. 

The  swivel  cannon  captured  at  the 
surrender,  excepting  the  one  allowed  to 
be  taken  away  by  Washington's  men, 
were  left  at  the  fort,  where  in  after  years 
they  were  found  and  used  by  emigrants 
for  firing  salutes.  Eventually  they  were 
taken  to  Kentucky  to  be  used  by  the  set 
tlers  in  defense  against  the  Indians. 

The  night  following  the  surrender 
Washington's  army  encamped  barely 


40  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

three  miles  distant  from  the  fort.  It  la 
boriously  wended  its  way,  the  sick  and 
wounded  being  carried  by  their  fellows, 
to  Will's  Creek,  where  the  foremost  ar 
rived  on  the  ninth. 

Personnel  of  the  Officers  Engaged. 

M.  Coulon  de  Villiers,  captain  of  His 
Majesty's  troops,  was  a  half-brother  to 
Jumonville,  and  was  of  a  family  of  seven 
brothers,  six  of  whom  lost  their  lives  in 
the  American  wars.  De  Villiers  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  English  at  the  cap 
ture  of  Fort  Niagara  in  1770. 

Captain  Mackaye  assisted  Colonel 
James  Innes  in  the  construction  of  Fort 
Cumberland,  and  afterward  became  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  peace  for  West 
moreland  County,  Pa.,  and  lived  at  Pitts 
burgh.  He  had  been  holding  court  at 
Hannastown  and  returned  home  on  the 
ninth  of  April,  1774,  and  was  arrested  on 
the  following  day  by  Dr.  Connelly  under 
authority  of  the  governor  of  Virginia. 
Connelly  was  holding  court  at  Fort  Dun- 
more  under  authority  of  Virginia,  and 
Mackaye  holding  court  at  Hannastown 
under  authority  of  Pennsylvania.  He 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  41 

was  sent,  with  other  justices,  to  Staun- 
ton  to  be  lodged  in  jail,  but  was  permit 
ted  to  go  to  Williamsburg,  to  present  an 
account  of  his  arrest  and  was  allowed  to 
return  home.  Colonel  Mackaye  was  sta 
tioned  at  Kittanning  to  succeed  Van 
Swearingen  at  Fort  Armstrong  in  July 
20,  1776,  with  his  battalion,  and  remain 
ed  at  that  post  until  the  fifteenth  of  De 
cember,  when  he  was,  against  the  re 
monstrances  of  the  inhabitants,  ordered 
elsewhere. 

Captain  Adam  Stephens,  to  whom 
Washington  gave  a  major's  commission, 
became  a  captain  in  the  Virginia  regi 
ment  at  Bradclock's  defeat  and  was 
wounded  in  the  action  at  that  time.  He 
rose  to  be  a  colonel  in  the  Virginia 
troops,  and  was  with  Grant  at  his  de 
feat  at  Fort  Duquesne.  He  became  a 
brigadier  general,  and  in  February,  1779, 
was  made  a  major  general  in  the  Revo 
lutionary  War.  He  was  stationed  at 
Fort  Cumberland  in  November  1775,  as 
lieutenant  colonel  by  Governor  Innes,  of 
North  Carlina,  who  had  been  in  com 
mand  at  that  place.  While  here  there 
arose  a  dispute  between  Stephens  and 
Captain  Dagworthy  as  to  rank,  and  Ma- 


42  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

jor  General  Shirley,  who  had  succeeded 
Braddock  in  command  of  the  colonies, 
had  Dagworthy  removed. 

General  Stephens  was  born  about  1718 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  migrated  to  Vir 
ginia  in  1738.  He  died  in  1791  and  was 
buried  on  his  own  plantation,  a  part  of 
which  is  now  embraced  within  the  town 
limits  of  Martinsburg,  Virginia. 

Captain  Robert  Stobo  was  the  only 
son  of  William  Stobo,  a  merchant  of 
Glasgow,  in  which  city  Robert  was  born 
in  1727.  His  father  and  mother  both 
dying  when  he  was  young,  he  came  to 
Virginia  to  serve  in  a  store  which  was 
owned  by  some  Glasgow  merchants.  He 
became  a  favorite  of  Governor  Dinwid- 
die,  who  in  1754  appointed  him  the  old 
est  captain  of  the  Virginia  regiment  then 
raised.  He  was  the  engineer  of  Fort 
Necessity,  and  was  one  of  the  two  host 
ages  given  up  by  Washington  to  be  tak 
en  by  the  French  to  Fort  Duquesne  to 
be  there  held  until  the  return  of  the 
French  officers  taken  in  the  fight  with 
Jumonville.  The  governor  of  Virginia 
refusing  to  comply  with  Washington's 
agreement  and  release  the  French  offi 
cers,  Stobo  with  Van  Braam  was  sent 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  43 

to  Canada.  They  were  the  first  English 
military  prisoners  at  Fort  Duquesne. 
He  was  allowed  much  privilege  as  a  pris 
oner  until  after  the  defeat  of  Braddock, 
when  a  great  change  was  made  in  the 
treatment  he  received.  The  plans  of 
Fort  Duquesne,  an  exact  description  of 
which  he  had  forwarded  to  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  and  the  information  he  had 
furnished,  were  captured  among  Brad- 
dock's  effects  and  published.  The  conse 
quence  was  that  Stobo  was  ordered  in 
to  close  confinement.  Subsequently  he 
was  tried  and  sentenced  to  be  executed. 
The  sentence  was  deferred,  and  at  length 
he  effected  his  escape  and  arrived  at 
Louisburg,  on  the  Island  of  Cape  Bre 
ton,  shortly  after  General  Wolf  had 
sailed  for  Quebec.  He  immediately  re 
turned  to  Quebec  and  afforded  General 
Wolf  much  important  information.  He 
returned  to  Virginia  in  1759,  from 
whence  he  went  to  England.  His  heirs 
got  an  extra  allowance  of  one  thousand 
pounds  and  nine  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  Kentucky  for  his  services. 

Captain  Jacob  Van  Braam,  as  well  as 
Adjutant  Muse,  had  been  a  campaign 
ing  comrade  of  Lawrence  Washington, 


44  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

and  had  been  in  the  British  army.  He 
professed  to  be  a  complete  master  of 
fencing,  and  gave  George  Washington, 
when  a  youth,  instructions  in  sword 
exercise.  He  was  a  Dutchman  who 
knew  a  little  French,  and  having  served 
Washington  as  a  French  interpreter  the 
previous  year  on  his  mission  to  the  forts 
on  French  creek,  he  was  called  upon  to 
interpret  the  articles  of  capitulation  at 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity.  It  was 
through  his  stupidity  as  an  interpreter 
that  Washington  was  placed  under  the 
ban  of  an  assassin  by  the  French.  For 
this  blunder  Van  Braam  was  condemned 
of  treachery  by  the  House  of  Burgesses. 
He  was  given  up  by  Washington  to  the 
French  to  be  held  as  a  hostage,  along 
with  Captain  Stobo,  until  the  return  of 
the  French  officers  taken  at  the  defeat 
of  Jumonville.  By  the  refusal  of  Gover 
nor  Dinwiddie  to  comply  with  Washing 
ton's  agreement  Van  Braam  was  kept 
some  time  at  Fort  Duquesne  and  then 
sent  to  Quebec,  along  with  Captain  Sto- 
1)O,  where  he  was  held  until  the  conquest 
•of  Canada  by  the  English.  He  returned 
to  Virginia  in  1760.  He  was  awarded  an 
allowance  of  five  hundred  pounds  and 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  45 

nine  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Kentucky 
for  his  services. 

Captain  Andrew  Lewis  became  a  cap 
tain  in  Braddock's  campaign,  but  had 
no  command  in  the  fatal  action.  He  was 
with  Major  Grant  in  his  defeat  at  Grant's 
Hill  in  1758.  He  became  the  General 
Lewis  of  Bottetourt  in  the  great  battle 
with  the  Indians  at  Point  Pleasant  in 
Dunmore's  war  of  1774,  and  was  a  dis 
tinguished  general  officer  in  the  Revolu 
tion.  It  was  he  whom  it  was  said  Wash 
ington  recommended  for  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  American  army. 

Lieutenant  William  Poison  became  a 
captain  in  Braddock's  campaign  arid  was 
killed  in  the  defeat.  He  was  a  native  of 
Scotland. 

Ensign  Peyronie  was  a  French  Pro 
testant  chevalier,  settled  in  Virginia, 
was  badly  wounded  in  the  attack  on  Fort 
Necessity  and  became  a  Virginia  cap 
tain  in  Braddock's  campaign.  He  was 
killed  on  the  field. 

Dr.  James  Craik,  a  Scotchman  by 
birth,  but  a  resident  of  Alexandria,  Vir 
ginia,  had  long  been  a  friend  and  the 
family  physician  of  Washington.  He  ac 
companied  Washington  as  physician  and 


46  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

surgeon  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  this  campaign.  He  attended  Colonel 
Fry,  who  died  at  Will's  creek  from  in 
juries  sustained  by  the  falling  of  his 
horse.  He  was  the  companion  of  Wash 
ington  when  on  his  journey  to  the  west 
in  1770,  and  was  also  his  physician 
through  his  last  illness.  He  entered  the 
Revolutionary  army  as  a  surgeon  and 
rose  to  the  first  rank.  He  was  director- 
in-chief  of  the  military  hospital  at  York- 
town  in  1781.  He  named  one  of  his 
sons  George  Washington  Craik.  who 
became  private  secretary  to  President 
Washington  in  his  second  term.  Dr. 
Craik  was  willed  a  chair  and  a  desk,  as 
mementoes,  by  Washington.  Besides 
drawing  his  pay  as  both  officer  and  sur 
geon  in  the  campaign  of  1754,  Dr.  Craik 
was  awarded  one  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  ninety-four  acres  of  land.  On 
the  third  of  September,  1788,  he  obtained 
from  Pennsylvania  patents  for  two  tracts 
of  land  in  Franklin  township,  Fayette 
county,  Pennsylvania.  One  was  known 
as  "Rowland's  Camp,"  and  the  other  as 
"Freeman's  Sword,"  each  containing 
four  hundred  and  three  acres.  They 
were  both  sold  the  twenty-seventh  of 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  47 

March,  1791,  to  Samuel  Bryson.  Dr. 
Craik  died  on  his  plantation,  within  five 
miles  of  Mt.  Vernon,  on  the  sixth  of 
February,  1814. 

Queen  Aliquippa,  with  her  son,  lived 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Youghiogheny 
with  the  Monongahela.  She  was  an  In 
dian  squaw  of  some  importance  among 
her  people,  and  received  her  royal  title 
from  the  English.  She  became  offended 
because  Washington  did  not  stop  to  see 
her  on  his  way  to  the  French  forts  in 
November,  1753,  an  offense  for  which  he 
fully  atoned  on  his  return  by  presenting 
her  with  a  few  presents,  among  which 
the  most  highly  prized  was  a  bottle  of 
rum. 

Christopher  Gist  was  of  English  de 
scent.  His  grandfather,  Christopher 
Gist,  died  in  Baltimore  county  in  1691. 
His  father,  Richard  Gist,  was  a  survey 
or;  was  one  of  the  commissioners  in 
1729  for  laying  off  the  town  of  Balti 
more,  and  was  presiding  magistrate  in 
1736.  Christopher  was  one  of  three  sons 
—Christopher,  Thomas  and  Nathaniel, 
who  all  married  sisters.  Christopher 
had  three  sons — Nathaniel,  Richard, 
Thomas — and  two  daughters,  Nancy  and 


48  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Violet.  He  was  a  leading  character  of 
the  times,  being  by  nature  an  adventur 
er.  In  1/48  his  residence  was  on  the 
Yadkin,  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  em 
ployed  by  the  "Ohio  Company"  in  lo 
cating  their  grant  of  five  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  land  on  the  Ohio  River,  the 
duties  of  which  he  performed  in  the 
years  1751  and  1752.  On  his  return  to 
his  home  in  the  former  year  he  found 
the  Indians  had  made  an  incursion  into 
that  settlement,  had  murdered  many  of 
his  neighbors  and  burned  the  houses. 
His  family  had  fled  to  the  banks  of  the 
Roanoke,  in  Virginia,  a  distance  of  thir 
ty-five  miles.  His  residence  was  on  the 
Yadkin  River,  and  on  the  wrest  side  of  a 
stream  known  as  Sawmill  Creek,  near 
and  west  of  Reddie's  River,  near  the 
present  town  of  Wilkesbarre,  in  Wilkes 
County,  North  Carolina.  He  was  resid 
ing  at  Will's  Creek  when  Washington  se 
cured  his  services  as  guide  to  the  French 
posts,  near  Lake  Erie,  in  November, 
T753-  On  their  way  out  and  also  on 
their  return  he  stopped  at  Gist's  new 
settlement  at  the  western  foot  of  Laurel 
Hill.  Washington  also  spent  the  night 
with  Gist  at  Will's  Creek  on  his  return. 


BRADD OCR'S  EXPEDITIONS  49 

With  his  sons,  Nathaniel  and  Thomas, 
he  was  with  Braddock  on  the  fatal  field, 
and  for  his  services  received  a  grant  of 
twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  from  the 
king  of  England.  He,  with  George  Cro- 
ghan,  assisted  in  building  the  stockade 
at  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  for  the  Ohio 
Company  in  1754,  and  was  purchasing 
agent  for  the  Virginia  soldiers  stationed 
at  Fort  Mount  Pleasant.  After  the  de 
feat  of  Braddock,  1755  till  1765,  he  was 
engaged  in  various  public  capacities  in 
the  south  and  southwest.  In  the  latter 
year  he  returned  to  his  settlement  west 
of  the  mountains,  and  after  settling  his 
family,  he  returned  to  his  old  home 
where  he  died  of  small-pox. 

His  son,  Thomas  Gist,  remained  at 
this  new  settlement  until  his  death,  in 
1786,  and  was  a  man  of  considerable  in 
fluence.  Richard  was  killed  at  the  bat 
tle  of  King's  Mountain.  Nancy  made  her 
home  with  Thomas  until  his  death,  when 
she  moved  with  her  brother  Nathaniel 
to  their  grant  in  Kentucky,  where  the 
family  of  Nathaniel  Gist  became  quite 
prominent.  Violet  married  William 
Cromwell,  and  lived  on  this  new  settle 
ment. 


50  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

What  at  that  time  was  known  as  the 
Gist  Plantation  was  subsequently  war 
ranted  by  Virginia  to  Thomas  Gist  in 
right  of  Christopher  Gist.  There  were 
five  surveys  made  the  twenty-sixth  of 
October,  1785,  aggregating  two  thou 
sand,  five  hundred  acres  in  one  body. 
After  the  death  of  Thomas  Gist  this 
whole  tract  was  sold  to  Colonel  Isaac 
Meason,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  Mt. 
Braddock.  On  this  he  erected  a  large 
stone  mansion  in  1802.  His  son,  Isaac 
Meason,  Jr.,  succeeded  him  in  the  pos 
session  of  this  farm,  and  after  the  death 
of  the  latter  his  widow  sold  it  to  Isaac 
Beeson. 

Dr.  Hugh  Mercer  was  a  Scotchman, 
having  fled  to  Virginia  from  the  service 
of  the  Pretender,  on  the  fatal  field  of  Cul- 
loden.  He  accompanied  the  Virginia 
troops  as  a  surgeon.  He  also  accom 
panied  Braddock's  army  and  was  badly 
wounded  on  the  fatal  field.  Being  un 
able  to  escape  in  the  general  flight,  he 
concealed  himself  behind  a  tree,  from 
which  place  he  was  a  forced  witness  to 
the  scalping  and  plundering  of  the  dead 
and  dying.  After  darkness  he  left  his 
hiding  place  and  by  the  aid  of  the  stars 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  51 

and  streams,  after  several  days  of  pain 
ful  suffering,  reached  Fort  Cumberland. 
He  served  as  captain  in  Colonel  Arm 
strong's  expedition  against  the  Indians 
at  Kittanning,  in  1756,  from  which  he 
again^  returned  severely  wounded  to  Fort 
Cumberland.  He  finally  became  a  field 
officer  in  the  Revolution  and  fell  at 
Princeton  in  January,  1777. 

The  Proprietories  of  Pennsylvania,  on 
March  2,  1771,  granted  to  Dr.  Hugh  Mer 
cer,  of  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  two 
tracts  of  land,  about  three  and  a  half 
miles  from  Stewart's  Crossing,  now  in 
Bullskin  township,  Fayette  County,  con 
taining  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  and 
one-half,  and  three  hundred  and  eleven 
acres  respectively,  and  the  usual  allow 
ance.  These  tracts  were  sold  by  the  ex 
ecutors  of  Dr.  Mercer  to  Isaac  Meason 
the  third  of  November,  1789. 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Waggener,  with 
his  company,  supported  that  of  Washing 
ton  at  the  attack  on  Jumonville,  and 
these  two  companies  received  all  the  fire 
of  the  enemy.  In  this  action  he  was 
wounded.  He  subsequently  became  a 
captain  of  the  Virginia  troops  and  as 
such  accompanied  Braddock  in  his  cam- 


52  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

paign  and  displayed  in  that  fatal  action 
signal  good  sense  and  gallantry,  and  es 
caped  unhurt. 

Tanacharison  was  a  Seneca  chief  of 
great  note,  being  head  sachem  of  the 
mixed  tribes  which  had  migrated  to  the 
Ohio  and  its  tributaries.  He  was  sur- 
named  the  Half-King,  being  subordinate 
to  the  Iroquois  confederacy.  Washing 
ton  pronounced  him  a  man  of  more  than 
usual  intelligence.  In  the  spring  of  1753, 
the  Miami  tribes  under  the  leadership 
of  Half-King,  made  a  treaty  at  Carlisle 
with  Benjamin  Franklin,  at  which  they 
plighted  their  friendship  to  the  English. 
That  Half-King  proved  faithful  to  his 
vow,  history  offers  ample  proof.  His 
home  was  at  Logstown,  whence  he  ac 
companied  Washington  to  the  French 
forts  in  1753.  He  was  at  the  Forks  of 
the  Ohio  when  Ensign  Ward  surren 
dered  that  post,  and  vehemently  protest 
ed  against  the  conduct  of  the  French 
commander  on  that  occasion.  He  ren 
dered  invaluable  service  in  the  detection 
and  defeat  of  Jumonville,  and  by  his  dis 
cretion  and  unswerving  loyalty  had  won 
the  admiration  of  Washington. 

When   Washington's      little   army   re- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  53 

traced  its  steps  over  the  mountains, 
Half-King  took  his  family  and  went  to 
Aughquick,  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they 
were  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the 
colony.  A  short  time  after  his  removal 
to  Aughquick  he  was  taken  sick  and  in 
October  of  this  same  year  he  died.  His 
death  was  mourned  with  great  lamenta 
tion  by  both  the  Indians  and  the  whites. 
Scarooyada  succeeded  him  as  sachem 
of  the  Delaware  tribe.  In  April,  1755, 
the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  refused  long 
er  to  support  them  and  their  destitute 
families.  This  treatment  and  that  receiv 
ed  at  the  hands  of  Braddock,  created  an 
antipathy  in  the  breasts  of  the  hitherto 
friendly  Indians. 

Washington  Retires  to  Mt.  Vernon. 

In  1752  the  Ohio  Company  concluded 
to  establish  this  as  a  permanent  trading- 
post,  although  this  point  was  eighty 
miles  west  of  the  frontier  settlements. 
Here  they  erected  another  storehouse 
and  magazine,  which  was  known  as  the 
New  Storehouse.  This  was  located  on 
the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  and 
was  near  the  place  now  occupied  by  the 


54  .  .WSHISTGTp'S  AND 


abutment  of  the  Potomac^  bridge.  l;his 
structure  was  built  of  logs  and*  was  suf 
ficiently  commodious  to  accommodate  a 
garrison  and  afford  protection  to  settlers 
in  case  of  an  attack  by  Indians. 

Washington  proceeded  to  Williams- 
burg,  where  he  made  a  full  report  of  the 
campaign  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  and  af 
ter  receiving  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the 
House  of  Burgesses  for  his  bravery  and 
gallant  defense  of  his  country,  he  reiired 
to  his  home  at  Mount  Vernon. 

After  Washington's  return  to  Wil- 
liamsburg  Colonel  James  Innes,  a 
Scotchman  by  birth,  but  a  resident  of 
North  Carolina,  marched  to  Will's  Creek 
and  on  the  first  of  September,  1754,  took 
command  of  that  post,  which  had  been 
garrisoned  by  Rutherford's  and  Clark's 
independent  companies  from  New  York. 
These  had  been  sent  to  join  Washington, 
but  got  no  farther  than  Winchester. 

Colonel  Innes  constructed  a  fort  at  the 
mouth  of  Will's  Creek,  with  the  assist 
ance  of  Captain  Mackaye,  beginning  the 
twelfth  of  September  and  completing  the 
work  in  about  one  month.  This  he  nam 
ed  Fort  Mount  Pleasant.  It  was  garri 
soned  during  the  winter  of  1754-55.  The 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  55 

fort  proper  occupied  almost  the  identical 
spot  on  which  now  stands  the  residence 
of  James  A.  Milholland,  known  as  the 
"Hoge  House."  This  fort  mounted  four 
ten-pounders,  besides  swivels,  and  was 
favorably  situated  to  keep  the  hostile  In 
dians  in  check. 

Washington  Acquires  a  Title  to  the  Site 

of  Fort  Necessity  and  Which  He 

Held  at  the  Time  of  His  Death 

As  early  as  1767  Washington  acquired 
from  Virginia  a  pre-emption  to  a  tract 
of  land  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-four 
acres  under  the  name  of  Mt.  Washing 
ton,  which  included  the  site  of  Fort  Ne 
cessity.  June  13,  1769,  an  application 
was  sent  in  to  the  land  office  in  right  of 
William  F>rooks  for  three  hundred  acres 
called  "Great  Meadows,"  including  an 
improvement  made  by  a  grant  from  Cap 
tain  Charles  Edmundstone,  patented 
February  18,  1782,  to  General  George 
Washington.  The  patent  from  the  su 
preme  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylva 
nia  to  General  Washington  recites  that 
said  tract  of  land  was  surveyed  by  virtue 
of  an  order  issued  June  13,  1769,  by  Wil- 


56  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Ham  Brooks,  who  by  deed  dated  the  sev 
enteenth  day  of  October,  1771,  conveyed 
said  tract  of  land  and  the  appurtenances 
unto  George  Washington  in  fee  simple, 
and  a  warrant  of  acceptance  of  the  survey 
issued  to  him,  dated  February  14,  1782. 
The  consideration  paid  by  Washington 
to  the  commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania 
was  thirty-three  pounds,  fifteen  shillings 
and  eight  pence,  Pennsylvania  money, 
which  was  some  less  than  one  hundred 
dollars. 

This  tract  was  referred  to  in  his  last 
will,  and  owned  by  him  at  the  time  of 
his  death. 

In  December,  1776,  the  Virginia  legis 
lature  proposed  as  adjustment  to  the 
boundary  controversy  that  the  western 
line  of  Maryland  should  be  extended 
northward  to  the  fortieth  degree  of  lati 
tude  and  thence  westward  along  that 
parallel  "until  the  distance  of  five  de 
grees  of  longitude  from  the  Delaware 
should  be  accomplished."  This  would 
have  thrown  the  site  of  Fort  Necessity 
a  distance  of  several  miles  within  the  ter 
ritory  of  Virginia,  but  no  formal  action 
was  taken  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania 
to  this  proposition.  The  running  of  the 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  57 

Mason  and  Dixon  line  put  an  end  to  all 
controversy  and  secured  to  the  Keystone 
state  one  of  her  cherished  historic  sites. 
After  the  death  of  Washington  his  ex 
ecutors  sold  it  to  Andrew  Parks,  of  Bal 
timore,  whose  wife,  Harriet,  was  a  rel 
ative  and  legatee  of  Washington.  She 
sold  it  to  General  Thomas  Meason,  who 
sold  it  to  Joseph  Huston,  from  whom  it 
was  sold  to  Colonel  Samuel  Evans  for 
the  taxes  in  1824,  and,  (it  seems  to  have 
reverted  back  to  Huston)  sold  as  prop 
erty  of  Huston  by  the  sheriff  to  Honor 
able  Nathaniel  Ewing,  who  sold  it  to 
James  Sampey,  April  6,  1836,  whose  ex 
ecutors  sold  it  to  Godfrey  Fazenbaker, 
December  29,  1856,  for  four  thousand 
dollars.  Mr.  Fazenbaker's  deed  contain 
ed  the  following  clause :  "Excepting  and 
reserving  that  piece  heretofore  conveyed 
by  said  executors  to  the  Fort  Necessity 
Washington  Monument  Association, 
with  right  of  way  and  privileges,  but  if 
the  conditions  of  the  said  asociation  are 
not  complied  with  the  reservation  is  a 
nuJlity  Mr.  Fazenbaker,  however, 
agreed  to  extend  the  time  almost  indef 
initely  should  the  association  continue 


58  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

its  efforts  to  erect  a  monument  at  the 
old  stockade. 

Mr.  Lewis  Fazenbaker,  the  son  of 
Godfrey  Fazenbaker,  is  the  present  own 
er  of  the  farm  and  says  that  the  site  of 
the  fort  has  never  been,  nor  never  shall 
be,  plowed  over  while  it  remains  in  the 
Fazenbaker  name. 

Washington  owned  at  the  time  of  his 
death  over  sixteen  hundred  acres  of  land 
in  Franklin  and  Washington  townships, 
on  which  was  erected  a  flouring  mill, 
which  is  still  in  operation.  This  tract 
of  land  was  sold  to  Colonel  Israel 
Shreeve. 

An  act  of  assembly  was  passed  April 
6,  1850,  incorporating  the  Fort  Necessity 
Washington  Monument  Association, 
making  Daniel  Sturgeon,  John  Washing 
ton,  Samuel  Y.  Campbell,  John  Huston, 
Hervey  Morris,  Robert  P.  Flenniken, 
Andrew  Stewart,  Sebastian  Rush,  Dan 
iel  Kaine,  Joshua  B.  Howell,  William 
vStone,  Zalmon  Ludington  and  Isaac 
Beeson,  of  Fayette  County,  "and  all  oth 
er  persons  who  have  subscribed,  or  shall 
hereafter  subscribe,  any  sum  for  the  erec 
tion  of  a  monument  under  the  provis 
ions  of  this  act,  and  their  successors  or 


SHADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  59 

assigns,  be  and  are  hereby  made  a  body 
corporate  under  the  style  of  Fort  Ne 
cessity  Washington  Monument  Associa 
tion,  the  property  of  this  corporation  to 
be  forever  exempt  from  taxation." 

The  first  election  of  officers  was  to  be 
held  the  first  Monday  in  May,  1850,  and 
thereafter  to  be  held  on  the  twenty-sec 
ond  day  of  February  each  year.  The 
board  of  managers  held  their  first  meet 
ing  at  the  house  of  Samuel  Y.  Camp 
bell,  May  6,  1850,  but  for  lack  of  a  quo 
rum,  agreed  to  meet  at  the  office  of  R. 
P.  Flenniken,  Esq.,  Saturday,  the  elev 
enth.  At  this  meeting  Samuel  Y.  Camp 
bell  was  elected  president;  Andrew 
Stewart,  Hervey  Morris,  Joshua  B.  How- 
ell,  Samuel  A.  Gilmore  and  R.  P.  Flen 
niken,  managers,  and  Isaac  Beeson,  treas 
urer. 

A  committee,  consisting  of  Andrew 
Stewart,  Sebastian  Rush,  Samuel  Y. 
Campbell  and  Thomas  R.  Davidson,  was 
appointed  to  secure  a  title  to  one  acre 
of  ground,  embracing  the  site  of  Fort 
Necessity,  together  with  right  of  way 
thereto.  Two  agents  were  appointed  in 
each  township  of  the  county  to  solicit 
subscriptions  for  the  purchase  of  the 


60  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

ground  and  the  erection  of  the  monu 
ment.  At  a  meeting  of  the  managers, 
June  twenty-second,  Mr.  Stewart  pre 
sented  the  form  of  a  deed  of  conveyance 
from  the  executors  of  James  Sampey, 
conveying  to  the  corporation  one  acre 
of  ground,  including  the  site  of  the  fort, 
which  form  it  was  agreed  should  be  ex 
ecuted. 

Requests  for  contributions  were  sent 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  different  heads  of  departments,  the 
representatives  in  Congress  from  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryla'nd,  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina,  the  literary  institutions  of  the 
state,  the  governor,  and  to  Major  Dela- 
field  and  cadets  of  West  Point,  the  Ma 
sonic  and  Odd  Fellow  lodges  and  en 
campments  of. the  state. 

An  effort  was  made  March  2,  1852,  to 
have  the  Topographical  Department  at 
Washington  appoint  a  gentleman  of  the 
department  to  visit  the  site  of  Fort  Ne 
cessity  and  make  a  drawing,  as  near  as 
circumstances  would  permit,  of  the  orig 
inal  stockade  for  the  purpose  of  having 
the  same  lithographed,  to  be  used  as  an 
inducement  for  subscriptions. 

On  August  6,  1851,  Captain  F.  Clarke, 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  61 

who  was  then  at  Brownsville,  was  writ 
ten  to  and  solicited  to  visit  the  site  and 
make  a  draft  of  the  location  and  envi 
rons.  On  August  14,  1851,  Captain  K. 
Dawson  was  also  requested  to  make  a 
draft  of  the  same. 

Agents  were  sent  out  to  canvass  Fay- 
ette  and  neighboring  counties  for  sub 
scriptions.  Some  little  money  was  ob 
tained  ;  some  of  the  solicitors  proved  to 
be  defaulters,  and  what  funds  did  find 
their  way  to  the  treasury  were  consumed 
in  stationery,  postage  and  clerical  work. 
So,  after  several  months  of  heroic  effort 
in  a  noble  cause  the  Fort  Necessity 
Washington  Monument  Association  was 
doomed  to  a  lingering  death. 

In  1854,  J.  N.  H.  Patrick,  Esq.,  editor 
of  the  Democratic  Sentinel  of  Union- 
town,  Pa.,  urged  a  celebration  to  be  held 
on  the  Fourth  day  of  July  of  that  year 
with  a  view  of  making  a  move  toward 
the  erection  of  a  monument  at  the  site 
of  the  old  stockade.  Lodge  No.  228  A. 
Y.  M.  of  Uniontown  and  a  large  con 
course  of  citizens  visited  the  place  and 
conducted  suitable  ceremonies,  and  a 
corner  stone  was  placed  near  the  center 
of  the  enclosure.  David  Shriver  Stew- 


62  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

art  son  of  Hon.  Andrew  Stewart,  per 
formed  the  last  named  ceremony. 

Not  long  after  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
the  contents,  whatever  they  may  have 
been,  were  removed,  and  some  six  years 
ago,  the  upper  stone  was  pried  from  its  po 
sition,  broken  in  two  and  left  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  ground,  a  sad  reminder  of  the 
vandalism  liable  to  be  perpetrated  on  any 
sacred  object.  The  embankments  have 
been  worn  down  in  the  lapse  of  years 
until  they  are  scarcely  larger  than  a  fur 
row  thrown  up  with  a  plow  yet  much  of 
the  outlines  can  be  easily  traced. 

In  January,  1899,  Hon.  T.  Robb  Deyar- 
mon,  of  Fayette  County,  introduced  in 
the  lower  House  a  bill  entitled,  "An  act 
providing  for  the  acquisition  by  the  state 
of  certain  grounds  at  Fort  Necessity, 
Fayette  County,  and  making  an  appro 
priation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  there 
for."  This  bill  got  as  far  as  the  commit 
tee  on  appropriations,  and  there  it  was 
buried  in  oblivion. 

A  magnificent  and  patriotic  celebra 
tion  was  held  on  the  site  of  Fort  Neces 
sity,  July  4th,  1904,  in  commemoration  of 
the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  surrender  of  that  fort. 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  63 

The  patriotic  sentiment  of  the  citi 
zens  of  Fayette  County  was  aroused  when 
Fort  Necessity  Lodge  of  I.  O.  O.  F.  took 
the  iniative  in  a  celebration  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
surrender  of  Fort  Necessity.  Pressing 
invitations  were  sent  throughout  Fayette 
and  adjoining  counties,  urging  that  an 
enthusiastic  meeting  be  held  at  the  site 
of  the  old  fort  and  that  patriotic  ad 
dresses  appropriate  to  the  occasion  be 
made. 

The  suggestion  met  with  a  most  hap 
py  response,  and  upon  the  day  of  the  oc 
casion,  long  before  daylight,  the  roads 
leading  to  this  historic  spot  were  crowd 
ed  with  vehicles  and  persons  on  foot. 

A  grand  parade  was  formed  on  the 
National  Road  under  Chief  Marshal 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Everhart  Bierer  and 
his  aide,  M.  A.  Keifer,  followed  by  Rut- 
ter's  Silver  Cornet  Band,  Co.  C  of  Union- 
town  under  command  of  Capt.  A.  G.  Bee- 
son,  Co.  D  of  Connellsville  under  com 
mand  of  Capt.  John  L.  Gans,  Uniontown 
Fire  Department,  Co.  A  Boys  Brigade 
under  Lieut.  Chas.  Hall,  Co.  E  under 
Sergeant  Maj.  L.  S.  Sloan,  Co.  F  under 
First  Sergeant  Jay  W.  Johns,  Co.  G  un- 


64  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

der  First  Lieut.  Ralph  C.  Kennedy  and 
all  under  the  command  of  Adjutant  I.  E. 
Keener. 

Next  came  the  Soldiers'  orphans  from 
the  Jumonville  Soldiers'  Orphan  school 
under  the  care  of  Superintendent  John 
A.  Waters,  Fort  Necessity  Lodge  I.  O. 
O.  F.,  followed  by  a  cavalcade  most  im 
posing. 

It  is  estimated  that  fully  8,000  people 
participated  in  the  celebration  of  the  oc- 
casioiij  and  it  can  be  truthfully  stated 
that  not  the  slightest  disorder  marred 
the  enjoyment  of  the  day. 

The  officers  of  this  celebration  com 
mittee  were,  President,  Hon.  E.  H.  Rep- 
pert,  Secretary,  Tames  Hadden,  Treas 
urer,  M.  H.  Bowman.  These  were  ably 
assisted  by  not  only  many  of  the  promi 
nent  citizens  of  the  town  but  throughout 
the  county. 

The  meeting  at  the  grove  was  presid 
ed  over  by  Hon.  E.  H.  Reppert  who  in 
troduced  the  speakers.  Rev.  F.  E.  J. 
Lloyd  of  the  Episcopal  Church  pro 
nounced  the  invocation,  after  which 
Judge  Reppert  made  some  happy  intro 
ductory  remarks  and  then  introduced 
Robert  F.  Hop  wood  who  read  the  Dec- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  65 

laration  of  Independence.  Hon.  George 
C.  Sturgis  of  Morgantown,  West  Vir 
ginia  delivered  a  most  able  and  patri 
otic  address.  He  was  followed  by  Rev. 
Father  A.  A.  Lambing  of  Wilkinsburg. 
The  next  speaker  was  Judge  F.  G.  White 
of  Pontiac,  111. 

Letters  of  regret  from  Senator  P.  C. 
Knox,  Hon.  Hampton  L.  Carson,  Hon. 
J.  P.  Dolliver,  Hon.  Lott  Thomas,  John 
W.  Beazell,  Hon.  Boyd  Crumrine,  Dr. 
T.  N.  Boyle,  Dr.  C.  W.  Smith,  Dr.  Cam- 
den  M.  Coburn  and  Gen.  M.  I.  Luding- 
ton  were  read  by  John  S.  Ritenour,  and 
the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev. 
W.  H.  Gladden  of  the  M.  P.  Church  of 
Connellsville. 

The  services  at  the  grove  were  enjoy 
ed  to  the  utmost  by  the  vast  throng  who 
gave  the  speakers  most  respectful  at 
tention. 

A  most  bountiful  dinner  was  served  in 
the  grove,  after  which  a  sham-battle  took 
place  between  the  troops,  and  another 
between  the  members  of  the  boys'  bri 
gade  all  of  which  were  greatly  enjoyed 
by  the  spectators. 

The  site  of  Fort  Necessity  remained 
unmarked  until  July  4th,  1908,  when  a 


66  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

tablet   was   erected   thereon   bearing   the 
following  inscription : 

This  tablet  marks  the  site 

of 
Fort  Necessity 

where  Lieutenant  Colonel  George 
Washington,  in  command  of  four 
hundred  provincial  troops,  after  an 
engagement  of  nine  hours,  capitu 
lated  to  M.  Coulon  de  Villiers,  in 
command  of  nine  hundred  French 
regulars  and  their  Indian  allies,  on 
July  4th,  1754. 

Washington  lost  30  men  killed  and 
42  wounded.  Captain  Mackaye's 
loss  was  never  reported.  The  French 
had  two  men  killed  and  70  wounded, 
two  whereof  were  Indians. 

Erected  July  4th,  1908,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Centennial  Celebra 
tion  committee  of  1904. 


I 


i 


General  Edward  Braddock 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  67 


CHAPTER  II. 

Expedition    of    Major    General    Edward 

Braddock  Against  the  French  at 

Fort  Duquesne,  1755. 

Edward  Braddock  was  born  in  Perth 
shire,  Scotland,  about  1695,  an(^  was  tne 
only  son  of  Major  General  Braddock.  He 
entered  the  army  as  ensign  in  the  Gren 
adier  company,  second  regiment  of  the 
Coldstream  Guards,  on  the  eleventh  of 
October,  1710,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years. 
This  was  a  very  aristocratic  division  of 
the  British  army,  and  the  bodyguard  of 
royalty.  From  this  his  promotions  were 
rapid. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  November, 
1754,  Major  General  Edward  Braddock 
was  commissioned  general-in-chief  of  His 
Majesty's  forces  in  North  America  and 
received  his  instructions  concerning  his 
duties  in  relation  to  the  encroachments 
of  the  French.  Becoming  impatient  of 
the  preparation  of  the  troops  he  set  sail 


63  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

from  Cork  aboard  the  "Norwich"  on  the 
twenty-first  of  December,  1754,  and  ar 
rived  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  February 
20,  1755.  His  troops — the  Forty-fourth 
regiment,  under  Colonel  Sir  Peter  Hal- 
ket,  and  the  Forty-eighth  regiment,  un 
der  Colonel  Dunbar — set  sail  on  the  four 
teenth  of  January  and  landed  in  March, 
1755,  and  marched  to  Alexandria.  These 
regiments  were  of  the  royal  troops,  and 
numbered  five  hundred  men  each. 

A  council  was  held  at  Alexandria  on 
the  fourteenth  of  April,  at  which  were 
present  Honorable  Augustus  Keppel, 
commander-in-chief  of  His  Majesty's 
ships,  and  the  governors  of  Massa 
chusetts,  Virginia,  New  York,  Pennsyl 
vania  and  Maryland.  Plere  three  expedi 
tions  were  planned,  one  of  which  was  to 
be  under  the  command  of  General  Brad- 
dock  with  the  British  troops,  with  such 
aid  as  might  be  derived  from  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  to  which  were  afterward 
added  two  independent  companies  from 
New  York. 

General  Braddock  was  to  move 
against  the  French  at  Fort  Duquesne, 
and  from  thence  to  Canada.  With  this 
object  in  view  he  marched  from  Alex- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  69 

andria  the  twentieth  of  April,  and  reach 
ed  Fredericktown,  Maryland,  on  the 
twenty-fourth.  Passing  through  Win 
chester  he  reached  Fort  Mount  Pleasant 
on  the  ninth  of  May,  to  which  point  Sir 
John  Sinclair,  deputy  quartermaster 
general,  had  preceded  him  about  two 
weeks.  General  Braddock,  having  been 
designated  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
the  captain  general  of  the  British  army, 
requested  of  Governor  Dinwiddie  that 
the  name  of  the  new  fort  be  changed 
from  Fort  Mount  Pleasant  to  that  of 
Fort  Cumberland,  by  which  name  it  was 
ever  afterward  known.  Here,  on  the 
loth  of  May,  Washington  was  appointed 
aide-de-camp  to  His  Excellency,  Major 
General  Braddock. 

Braddock's  army  now  consisted  of 
the  Forty-fourth  regiment,  English  in 
fantry,  Col.  Sir  Peter  Halket;  the  Forty- 
eighth,  Col.  Thomas  Dunbar;  sundry  in 
dependent  colonial  companies,  a  com 
pany  of  horse,  a  company  of  artillery,  a 
company  of  marines,  etc.  The  two  in 
dependent  companies  of  New  York,  un 
der  command  of  Captains  Rutherford 
and  Gates,  the  latter  to  whom  Burgoyne 
surrendered  at  Saratoga,  had  garrisoned 


70  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

the  fort  during  the  winter  of  1754-55. 
The  field  officers  were  Lieut.  Cols.  Bur 
ton  and  Gage,  the  latter  of  Bunker  Hill 
notoriety;  Majors  Chapman  and  Sparks, 
Major  Sir  John  Sinclair,  quartermaster 
general;  Matthew  Leslie,  his  assistant; 
Capt.  Robert  Orme,  of  the  Coldstream 
Guards;  Christopher  Gist  and  his  son 
Nathaniel  as  guides;  Drs.  James  Clark 
and  Hugh  Mercer.  These  had  been  with 
Washington  in  his  campaign  the  previ 
ous  year. 

Braddock  was  here  tendered  the  valua 
ble  services  also  of  George  Croghan,  the 
Indian  agent  of  Aughwick;  Montour,  the 
Indian  diplomatist;  Monacatootha,  the 
successor  of  Half- King,  whose  acquaint 
ance  and  friendship  Washington  had  for 
med  when  on  his  mission  to  Le  Boeuf, 
with  about  150  Seneca  and  Delaware  In 
dians,  and  Captain  Jack  with  his  com 
pany  of  warriors  and  scouts.  These  of 
fered  their  services  without  pay  and  to 
furnish  their  own  arms,  all  on  conditions 
that  they  were  to  dress,  march  and  fight 
as  they  pleased  and  to  be  free  from  strict 
military  discipline, 

With  such  a  strict  disciplinarian  as 
Braddock  such  conditions  could  not  for 


Fort  Cumberland — 17f>5 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  71 

one  moment  be  considered  and  the  offer 
was  peremptorily  refused,  whereupon 
Captain  Jack  with  his  band,  together 
with  nearly  every  Indian,  turned  upon 
his  heel  in  disgust  and  marched  back  to 
the  hills  of  the  Juniata. 

Had  Braddock  accepted  the  services  of 
these  experienced  warrors  and  scouts  the 
result  of  his  expedition  can  only  now  be 
conjectural,  but  the  consequence  of  his 
refusal  and  of  his  strict  adherence  to 
military  discipline  history  has  amply  re 
corded. 

Captain  Jack,  who  was  also  known  as 
"Stisquehanna  Jack,"  "The  Black  Rifle," 
"The  Black  Hunter,"  and  "The  Wild 
Hunter  of  the  Juniata,"  was  a  large,  pow 
erful  and  fearless  frontier  settler  of  the 
valley  of  the  Juniata,  through  whose 
veins  ran  a  goodly  mixture  of  Indian  if 
not  a  baser  blood. 

Once  upon  returning  from  a  long  and 
weary  chase  he  was  horrified  to  find  his 
cabin  in  ashes  and  the  corpses  of  his  mur 
dered  family  scattered  around.  From 
this  time  to  the  day  of  his  death  his 
thirst  for  Indian  blood  could  never  be 
satisfied.  His  fame  as  an  Indian  fighter 


72  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

soon  spread  from  the  head  springs  of  the 
Susquehanna  to  the  Potomac. 

The  old  pathway  along  which  Captain 
Jack  traveled,  and  in  which  he  met  his 
dusky  foe  in  mortal  combat,  and  in  which 
so  many  fell  a  victim  to  his  deadly  rifle, 
is  still  plainly  visible. 

His  bones  respose  in  a  lonely  grave 
near  his  favorite  spring  at  the  base  of  the 
mountain  which  bears  his  name  and 
stands  as  a  towering  monument  to  per 
petuate  his  memory. 

Reference  has  frequently  been  made  to 
a  monument  that  stands  in  the  Falling 
Spring  cemetery  at  Chambersburg,  Pa., 
which  bears  the  following  inscription : 
"Colonel  Patrick  Jack,  an  officer  of  the 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars,  died 
January  25th,  1829,  ag,ed  91  years/' 

This  latter  was  not  the  Captain  Jack 
who  offered  his  services  to  Braddock, 
but  was  a  resident  of  Chambersburg  at 
the  time  of  his  death. 

Monacatootha,  known  also  as  Scaroo- 
yada,  with  a  few  of  his  followers,  not 
more  than  eight  in  number,  however,  fol 
lowed  Braddock  through  the  campaign 
and  rendered  valuable  service.  At  a 
council  held  at  Onondag'o  by  the  Six 


SHADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  73 

Nations.  Monacatootha  had  been  select 
ed  to  succeed  Tanacharison  or  Half- 
King,  as  sachem.  The  clever  pencil  of 
the  artist  could  not  throw  upon  canvass 
a  more  dignified  specimen  of  the  noble 
race.  The  majestic  form  of  this  warrior 
as  it  towered  above  his  followers  lead 
ing  the  van,  followed  by  the  glittering 
array  of  the  first  disciplined  army  whose 
martial  tread  ever  awoke  the  echoes  of 
these  primeval  forests,  was  grand  in  the 
extreme.  His  leggings  were  frilled  with 
locks  from  the  dried  scalps  of  his  con 
quered  foes ;  his  own  scalp  lock,  plaited 
down  his  back,  a  well  understood  token 
of  defiance,  over  which  waved  the  plume 
feathers  of  the  eagle,  the  emblem  of 
American  liberty,  was  further  gaudily 
ornamented  with  the  gorgeous  plumage 
of  the  blue  jay.  On  his  noble  breast  was 
plainly  tattooed  a  tomahawk,  the  emblem 
of  war,  and  on  each  cheek  he  bore  the 
signs  of  the  hunter,  the  bow  and  arrow. 
The  army  had  marched  but  a  little 
over  twenty  miles  from  Fort  Cumber 
land  when  Monacatootha,  who  was  a  lit 
tle  in  advance,  was  surrounded  and  taken 
by  some  French  and  Indians.  The  for 
mer  were  determined  to  put  him  to  death 


74  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

but  the  latter  remonstrated  and  even 
threatened  to  join  the  English  should  the 
French  carry  out  their  design.  The 
sachem  was  then  lashed  to  a  tree  and 
left  to  his  fate,  but  fortunately  was  soon 
found  and  released  by  his  son  and  other 
Indians. 

While  the  army  was  encamped  at 
Thicketty  Run,  July  4th,  two  of  Monaca- 
tootha's  men  were  sent  to  reconnoiter 
and  returned  with  the  scalp  of  a  French 
officer  which  they  had  succeeded  in 
taking  within  half  a  mile  of  the  fort. 

On  July  6th,  while  the  army  was  on 
the  march  from  Thicketty  Run,  by  a  dis 
regard  of  a  preconcerted  signal,  Manaca- 
tootha's  son  was  fired  upon  and  killed  by 
some  outrangers  of  Braddock's  army. 
The  general  displayed  great  sorrow  for 
the  unfortunate  occurrence  and  after 
due  expressions  of  sympathy  and  dona 
tions  caused  the  body  to  be  buried  in  the 
honors  of  war  at  the  next  encampment, 
which  also  received  the  name  of  "Mon- 
acatootha"  in  honor  of  the  bereaved 
sachem. 

The  Colonial  Records  and  the  Penn 
sylvania  Archives  bear  ample  evidence 
that  this  noble  sachem  not  only  held  a 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  75 

commission  under  the  province  of  Penn 
sylvania,  but  that  his  mature  judgment 
was  sought  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
councils  of  the  same. 

Braddock's  whole  force  amounted  to 
about  2150  men  at  Fort  Cumberland. 
But  by  haughtily  rejecting  the  proffered 
services  of  the  Indians  as  scouts  and 
guides,  many  of  them  retired  to  the 
mountains  of  the  Juniata.  Scarooyada 
and  a  few  others,  however,  followed 
Braddock  throughout  the  campaign.  This 
sachem  afterward,  in  a  speech  at  Phila 
delphia,  denounced  the  French  as  cow 
ards  and  the  English  as  fools. 

Braddock  at  this  time  had  under  his 
command  several  officers,  both  white 
and  Indian,  who  were  far  more  compe 
tent  to  command  than  he,  and  who,  if 
permitted  the  opportunity,  would  doubt 
less  have  led  the  troops  to  victory. 

On  the  3Oth  of  May  Sir  John  Sinclair 
and  Major  Chapman  were  sent  forward 
with  a  detachment  of  600  men  to  widen 
the  road  opened  by  Washington  the  pre 
vious  year,  to  advance  as  far  as  the  Little 
Meadows  and  there  erect  a  fort  and  col 
lect  provisions.  On  the  7th  of  June  the 
first  division,  under  Sir  Peter  Halket, 


76  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

moved  forward  and  on  the  8th  the  second 
division,  under  Lieut.  Col.  Gage,  of  the 
Forty-fourth,  and  on  the  loth  the 
main  body  of  the  army,  with  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  left  Fort  Cumberland. 

Through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Benja 
min  Franklin  150  wagons  and  2000 
horses  joined  Braddock  on  the  8th  of 
June,  and  the  army  was  enabled  to  move. 
The  first  camp  was  called  "Camp  at  the 
Grove,"  and  from  here  orders  were  is 
sued,  and  the  commander-in-chief  rest 
ed  till  the  I2th.  He  encamped  at  "Mar 
tin's"  on  Saturday,  June  14th.  The  army 
was  seven  days  in  reaching  the  Little 
Meadows,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles 
from  Fort  Cumberland.  Here  a  council 
was  held,  at  which  it  was  determined 
that  Gen.  Braddock,  with  1200  men  and 
12  pieces  of  cannon,  should  press  on, 
leaving  Colonel  Dunbar  and  Major 
Chapman  to  follow  by  easy  stages.  At 
the  Little  Crossings,  two  miles  west  of 
the  Little  Meadows,  Washington  was 
taken  down  with  a  fever  and  was  left  un 
der  the  care  of  Dr.  Craik  and  a  guard  to 
await  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Dunbar,  who 
came  up  in  two  days.  Washington  had 
exacted,  however,  from  Braddock,  a 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  77 

promise  not  to  make  the  attack  on  Fort 
Duquesne  until  he  came  up.  The  army 
reached  the  Great  Crossings,  a  distance 
of  17  miles  farther  west,  on  the  23rd. 

The  first  encampment  on  Fayette 
County  soil  was  at  the  "Twelve  Springs/' 
having  marched  from  Squaw's  Fort,  near 
the  Big  Crossings,  six  miles.  This  en 
campment  was  between  what  is  now 
known  as  Mount  Augusta  and  Marlow's, 
and  south  of  the  National  Road.  Here 
the  army  encamped  the  24th. 

On  the  25th  the  army  made  a  memor 
able  march.  Within  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  after  starting  a  bluff  was  reached 
over  which  it  was  necessary  to  let  down 
the  carriages  by  the  use  of  ropes  and 
tackle.  During  the  day's  march  three 
men  were  killed  and  scalped  by  the 
enemy,  and  some  French  and  Indians 
were  fired  upon  by  the  sentinels. 

The  Site  of  Fort  Necessity  Passed  With 
out  Notice. 

The  ruins  of  Fort  Necessity  were  pas 
sed  without  halt  or  seeming  notice,  and 
the  army  camped  about  one  mile  be- 
vond  the  Great  Meadows  after  a  march 


78  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

of  seven  miles.  This  encampment  is 
known  as  the  "Old  Orchard  Camp,"  and 
was  reached  late  in  the  day.  There  may 
have  been  some  superstitions  belief 
which  caused  Braddock  to  pass  the  Great 
Meadows  without  a  halt. 

Nothing  was  farther  from  the  proud 
commander's  mind  while  encamped  at 
this  place  than  the  thought  that  within 
a  little  more  than  a  fortnight  the  same 
should  witness  the  disordered  retreat  of 
the  remnant  of  his  defeated  army,  should 
hear  his  dying  moans  and  be  his  sepul- 
cher,  but  such  it  proved  to  be. 

The  following  day  (26th)  Braddock 
offered  a  bounty  of  five  pounds  for  every 
scalp  that  his  Indians  and  soldiers  should 
take.  On  account  of  the  roughness  of 
the  road  the  march  was  a  distance  of 
four  miles  only.  This  encampment  was 
known  as  "Rock  Fort"  or  "Great  Rock," 
and  was  near  a  fine  spring,  now  known 
as  Washington's  Spring.  The  rock  was 
situated  on  the  crest  of  Laurel  Hill,  and 
near  the  same  as  occupied  by  Half-King 
the  year  before,  when  he  notified  Wash 
ington  of  the  approach  of  Jumonville's 
party.  Here  they  found  another  Indian 
camp,  which  had  just  been  deserted.  The 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  79 

fire  was  still  burning,  and  a  commission 
was  found  indicating  that  the  party  was 
under  the  command  of  Sieur  Norman- 
ville, 

From  "Rock  Fort"  the  army  marched 
on  the  27th  northward  along  the  crest  of 
Laurel  Hill,  passing  within  a  few  hun 
dred  feet  of  the  scene  of  Jumonville's 
defeat,  and  to  the  eastward  of  the  promi 
nence,  at  the  western  foot  of  which  was 
lately  located  the  Jumonville  Orphan 
school,  and  encamped  at  Gist's  planta 
tion,  where  Washington  had  commenced 
a  stockade  the  year  before,  a  distance  of 
some  eight  miles  from  "Rock  Fort." 

On  the  28th  the  army  marched  to  the 
Youghiogheny  and  encamped  at  Stew 
art's  Crossing,  a  short  distance  below 
where  the  town  of  Connellsville  now 
stands.  The  crossing  was  effected  on  the 
3Oth,  and  the  army  pursued  a  north 
easterly  course  and  passed  through 
where  the  town  of  Mount  Pleasant 
now  stands,  and  west  of  Greens- 
burg  to  Bush  fork  of  Turtle  Creek 
Here  Braddock  left  the  Nemacolin 
Trail  and  turning  to  the  westward 
encamped  about  two  miles  distant  from 
the  Monongahela  River.  Here  Washing- 


80  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

ton  joined  him  on  the  evening  of  July 
8th,  he  having  come  forward  with  a  de 
tachment  of  TOO  men  with  packhorses 
and  provisions  on  July  3d,  and  was  haul 
ed  to  this  place  in  a  covered  wagon. 

At  3  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July 
9th  Col.  Thomas  Gage  led  the  advance 
and  crossed  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Mon- 
ongahela  by  8  o'clock,  with  a  body  of 
300  men.  He  was  immediately  followed 
by  another  body  of  200  men.  Next  came 
the  general  with  the  column  of  artillery, 
the  main  body  of  the  army  and  the  bag 
gage.  This  crossing  was  near  the  site 
of  the  present  town  of  McKeesport.  The 
army  then  marched  down  three  miles  and 
halted  to  take  dinner.  Washington  de 
scribes  the  march  and  manoeuvers  of 
the  army  at  this  place  to  be  the  grandest 
sight  he  had  ever  beheld.  The  recross- 
ing  was  effected  just  below  the  mouth  of 
Turtle  Creek,  and  by  I  o'clock  the  whole 
had  recrossed  the  river. 

The  Assault. 

•*"  Almost  at  this  moment  a  sharp  fire 
was  heard  upon  the  advance  party,  under 
Col.  Gage,  who  was 'now  ascending  the 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  81 

hill  about  100  yards  jrom^the  terminus 
of  the  plain.  A  heavy  fire  of  musketry 
was  poured  in  upon  his  troops  by  an  in 
visible  foe.  The  fire  was  returned  at 
random,  consequently  to  no  effect.  The 
advance  became  panic  stricken  and  fell 
back,  the  officers  all  the  while  trying  in 
vain  to  cause  a  rally  and  restore  order. 
For  nearly  three  hours  the  troops  hud 
dled  together  in  confusion  in  the  narrow 
pass  and  were  being  shot  down  by  the 
enemy  hidden  in  the  ravines  on  each  side. 
The  Virginia  provincials,  understanding 
the  Indian  mode  of  warfare,  would  have 
taken  to  the  trees  and  routed  the  enemy 
had  Braddock  permitted.  He  de 
nounced  them  as  cowards  and  dastards 
for  treeing,  and  even  struck  many  of 
them  dowrn  with  his  sword,  an  act  for 
which  he  soon  paid  the  penalty,  as  the 
sequel  will  show. 

In  the  confusion  of  the  battle  more 
than  half  of  the  whole  army  were  either 
killed  or  wounded,  two-thirds  of  them 
being  shot  down  by  their  own  men. 
Braddock  had  four  horses  killed  under 
him  and  at  last,  while  on  the  fifth,  he  re 
ceived  a  mortal  wound  which  shattered 
his  right  arm  and  penetrated  his  lungs. 


82  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

He  was  carried  from  the  field.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  devotedness  of  his  aide, 
Capt.  Orme,  and  the  fidelity  of  Capt. 
Stewart,  of  Virginia,  who  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  light  horse,  the  fallen  gen 
eral  would  have  had  his  wish  gratified, 
"that  the  scene  of  his  disaster  would  also 
witness  his  death."  He  was  wrapped  in 
a  silken  sash  taken  from  about  his  waist, 
which  English  officers  were  wont  to 
carry,  and  was  carried  off  the  field  by  his 
faithful  body  servant,  Bishop,  whom,  in 
his  dying  moments,  he  bequeathed  to 
Washington. 

The  silken  sash  in  which  he  was  borne 
from  the  field  was  kept,  and  after  the 
Mexican  war  was  presented  to  Gen. 
Zachary  Taylor  from  whom  it  descended 
to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Betty  Dandridge, 
in  whose  possession  it  remained  until 
her  death. 

The   Deadly  Result. 

Out  of  eighty-nine  commissioned  offi 
cers  twenty-six  were  killed  and  thirty- 
seven  wounded,  and  of  the  soldiers  430 
were  killed  and  about  400  wounded, 
the  killed  being  in  excess  of  the  wound- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  83 

ed.  Every  field  officer,  and  every  one  on 
horseback,  except  Washington,  who  had 
two  horses  killed  under  him  and  four 
bullets  through  his  coat,  was  either  kill 
ed  or  carried  off  the  field  wounded. 
Washington  that  day  rode  upon  a  pillow, 
so  enfeebled  and  emaciated  was  he  from 
the  attack  of  fever;  and  yet,  with  great 
coolness,  at  the  head  of  the  provincials, 
he  formed  and  covered  the  retreat. 

Sir  Peter  Halket  and  the  gallant  young 
secretary,  Shirley,  were  among  the  kill 
ed.  Captain  Orme  saved  his  journal, 
which  is  now  so  highly  prized  as  being 
an  authentic  and  continuous  record  of 
this  unfortunate  campaign.  All  the  artil 
lery,  ammunition,  baggage  and  stores,  to 
gether  with  the  dead  and  the  dying  were 
left  on  the  fatal  field.  All  the  secre 
tary's  papers,  with  all  the  commanding 
general's  orders,  instructions  and  cor 
respondence,  together  with  the  military 
chest,  containing  twenty-five  thousand 
pounds  in  money,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  French.  The  Pennsylvania  wagoners 
escaped  to  a  man  on  their  fleetest  horses, 
some  arriving"  at  Dunbar's  camp,  a  dis 
tance  of  40  miles,  by  10  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  and  one  or  two  wounded  offi- 


84  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

cers  were  carried  into  camp  before  noon 
of  this  vSame  day. 

The  French  Contingent. 

M.  de  Contrecour  was  in  chief  com 
mand  at  Fort  Duquesne,  under  whom 
were  De  Beaujeu  and  Charles  de  Lang- 
dale.  De  Beaujeu,  at  the  head  of  a  force 
of  250  French  and  650  Indians,  marched 
out  of  Fort  Duquesne  at  9  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  July  9th,  and  by  half 
past  twelve  o'clock  found  himself  in  the 
presence  of  the  English.  De  Beaujeu 
fell  early  in  the  battle  and  soon  expired, 
and  Dumas  being  next  in  command,  led 
the  attack  after  De  Beaujeu  fell.  The 
loss  of  the  French  was  slight,  but  fell 
chiefly  on  the  officers,  three  of  whom 
were  killed  and  four  wounded.  Of  the 
regular  soldiers  all  but  four  escaped 
unwounded.  The  Canadians  suffered 
still  less  in  proportion  to  their  number. 
The  Indians,  who  won  the  victory,  bore 
the  principal  loss. 

The  remnant  of  Braddock's  defeated 
army  attempted  to  make  a  rally  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river  to  await  reinforce 
ments  from  Col.  Dunbar,  but  in  this  they 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  $5 

utterly  failed.  The  Indians  made  no  at 
tempt  to  pursue  the  retreating  army,  but 
contented  themselves  with  scalping  and 
pillaging  the  dead.  From  this  place 
Washington  was  ordered  on  to  Dunbar 
for  wagons,  provisions  and  hospital 
stores.  He  rode  all  night  in  the  rain  and 
darkness  and  reached  Dunbar  at  day 
break. 

Braddock  was  borne  on  a  litter  and 
reached  Gist's  plantation  by  10  o'clock 
the  next  evening  and  lay  at  the  Indian's 
spring  that  night  awaiting  surgical  aid 
from  Dunbar.  Early  in  the  night  suc 
ceeding  the  battle  many  reached  the  de 
serted  settlement  of  Gist.  Here  they 
met  wagons  and  provisions  with  Wash 
ington  and  a  detachment  of  soldiers  from 
Dunbar.  These  Braddock  ordered  to 
proceed  to  the  relief  of  the  stragglers 
still  left  behind. 

Sir  John  Sinclair  was  borne  into  Dun- 
bar's  camp  on  the  loth,  on  a  sheet,  and 
Braddock  was  moved  up  the  following 
day.  Col.  Dunbar,  with  Major  Chapman, 
had  been  left  at  the  Little  Meadows,  to 
follow  on  by  easy  stages  with  the  heavy 
ordnance  and  supplies.  They  passed 
Fort  Necessity  on  the  2nd  of  July,  and 


86  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

formed  his  final  encampment  on  the  sum 
mit  of  Laurel  Hill,  a  flat  piece  of  land  in 
close  proximity  to  a  fine  spring,  and 
within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  fatal 
action  with  Jumonville. 

The  panic-stricken  fugitives  came 
pouring  into  the  encampment  of  Dun- 
bar;  the  drums  beat  to  arms,  the  fright 
became  contagious,  and  disorder  reigned 
supreme.  By  order  of  Braddock  barrels 
of  powder,  amounting  to  50,000  pounds, 
were  staved  and  the  contents  thrown  in 
to  a  pool  which  had  formed  below  the 
spring;  the  shells  were  bursted  and  about 
150  wagons  were  burned  to  prevent  them 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Col. 
Dunbar,  in  his  report  to  Governor  Shir 
ley,  states  positively  that  there  was  not 
a  gun  of  any  kind  buried.  Many  balls, 
bayonets  and  pieces  of  shells  have  been 
gathered  up  from  the  camp,  and  scarcely 
a  museum  of  the  state  but  contains  many 
specimens.  One  collector  has  in  his  pos 
session  the  half  of  a  forty-pound  shell 
which  was  made  for  an  eight-inch  gun, 
and  two  solid  shot  weighing  12  pounds 
each.  These  bear  the  English  mark  of 
the  "Broad  Arrow." 

Since    the    removal    of    the    Soldiers' 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  87 

Orphan  school  to  the  immediate  neigh 
borhood  of  the  camp,  in  1875,  there  have 
been  collected  enough  pieces  of  shell 
and  balls  from  which  two  small  cannons 
were  moulded.  These  weigh  about  200 
pounds  each.  One  is  in  Pittsburg  and 
the  other  is  mounted  and  kept  at  the 
school,  where  it  is  used  for  firing  salutes. 
One  of  these  small  cannons  was  present 
ed  to  the  Abe  Patterson  Post  No.  88  G. 
A.  R.,  of  Allegheny  City.  It  was  mount 
ed  on  lumber  taken  from  Perry's  fleet. 

The  retreat  from  Dunbar's  camp  was 
begun  on  the  I3th,  and  by  the  same 
route  as  the  advance  had  been  made.  An 
encampment  was  made  at  the  Old  Orch 
ard,  the  same  place  as  Braddock  had  en 
camped  on  his  way  out.  Braddock  was 
silent  all  the  first  day  after  the  defeat, 
and  at  night  only  said :  "Who  would 
have  thought  it?"  All  the  next  day  he 
he  was  again  silent,  till  at  last  he  mut 
tered  :  "We  shall  know  better  how  to 
deal  with  them  the  next  time,"  and  died 
in  a  few  minutes  after.  Before  breathing 
his  last  the  dying  general  bequeathed 
his  favorite  charger  and  his  body  ser 
vant,  Bishop,  to  Washington  in  recogni 
tion  of  his  faithfulness  as  a  staff  officer. 


88  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

General  Braddock's  Death  and  Burial. 

General  Braddock  died  on  Sunday 
evening  about  8  o'clock.  July  13,  1755. 
lie  was  wrapped  in  his  cloak  as  a  winding 
sheet  and  buried  at  daybreak  oh  Monday 
morning,  at  the  camp,  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  that  the  army  in  passing  over 
the  grave  might  obliterate  every  trace 
of  its  whereabouts,  and  thus  avoid  any 
desecration  of  the  body  by  the  Indians. 
The  chaplain  having  been  wounded, 
Washington  read  the  Episcopal  funeral 
service,  and  the  dead  general  was  buried 
with  the  honors  of  war.  A  few  days 
after  the  retreat  of  Dunbar  the  French 
sent  out  a  party  who  advanced  as  far  as 
the  deserted  camp,  and  proceeded  to 
complete  the  destruction  of  everything 
destructible  that  could  be  found. 

Braddcck's  Slayer. 

It  has  always  been  related  that  one 
Thomas  Fossit  fired  the  fatal  shot  that 
caused  the  death  of  General  Braddock. 
Fossit  was  a  soldier  in  Captain  Chol- 
mondeley's  company,  having  enlisted  at 
Shippensburg,  Pa.  He  was  a  large  man, 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  §9 

of  great  strength,  rude  habits  and  strong 
passions.  He  had  a  brother  Joseph  who 
was  also  in  the  same  company.  In  the 
engagement  at  Braddock's  field  the  pro 
vincials  took  to  the  trees,  in  Indian 
fashion,  and  were  doing1  good  execution, 
but  Braddock  cursed  them  as  dastards 
and  cowards  and  cut  many  of  them  down 
with  his  sword.  Tom  Fossit  saw  the 
reckless  general  cut  his  brother  down, 
and  this  was  more  than  a  man  of  his 
temperament  could  endure.  He  sought 
and  obtained  revenge.  Fossit  took  up.  a 
tract  of  100  acres  of  land  at  the  junction 
of  Braddock's  and  Dunlap's  roads  on  the 
summit  of  Laurel  Hill.  This  included 
the  site  of  "Rock  Fort"  or  "Big  Rock" 
and  "Washington  Springs."  Here  he  kept 
a  tavern  for  several  years.  He  sold  his 
rights  to  this  tract  April  29,  1788,  to 
Isaac  Phillips  for  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds. 
This  stand  was  afterward  known  as 
Slack's  tavern,  and  was  considered  a 
good  stand  until  the  National  Road  was 
opened  over  the  mountains.  In  October, 
1816,  Fossit  was  a  pauper  at  Thomas 
Mitchell's,  in  Wharton  township,  and 
claimed  then  to  be  104  years  of  age.  He 
made  his  final  home  with  Thomas  Stew- 


90  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

art,  not  far  distant  from  Ohio  Pyle,  and 
at  whose  home  he  died  at  the  remarkable 
age  of  109  years.  When  intoxicated  he 
would  often  relate  the  scenes  of  Brad- 
dDck's  defeat,  and  in  obscure  language 
hint  to  the  circumstances  of  firing  the 
fatal  shot.  He  was  said  to  have  been 
married  three  times,  and  that  two  of  his 
wives  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and 
that  his  favorite,  as  he  termed  his  "little 
Dutch  wife/  was  tomahawked  before  his 
eyes.  He  died  about  1820. 

The  Continued  Retreat. 

The  retreating  army  encamped  at  Lit 
tle  Meadows  the  following  night  after 
Braddock's  death,  a  distance  of  32  miles 
from  Old  Orchard  Camp.  Col.  Dunbar 
arrived  at  Fort  Cumberland  by  the  i8th 
of  July,  and  remained  there  until  the  2nd 
of  August,  While  here  he  was  met  with 
earnest  requests  from  the  governors  of 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia 
that  he  would  post  his  troops  on  the 
frontier  so  as  to  afford  some  protection 
to  the  inhabitants.  To  all  these  en 
treaties  Dunbar  turned  a  deaf  ear,  and 
continued  his  hasty  march  through  the 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  91 

country,  not  considering  himself  safe  un 
til  he  arrived  at  Philadelphia. 

The  Scattered  Army. 

Washing-ton  remained  at  Fort  Cumber 
land  for  a  few  days,  being  in  feeble 
health  and  still  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  his  illness.  While  here  he  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  Governor  Dinwiddie : 

Fort  Cumberland,  July  18,  1755. 
Honorable  Sir : — 

As  I  am  favored  with  an  opportunity, 
I  should  think  myself  inexcusable  were  I 
to  omit  giving  you  some  account  of  our 
late  action  with  the  French  on  the  Mon- 
ongahela,  the  Qth  instant.  We  conduct 
ed  our  march  from  Fort  Cumberland  to 
Frazer's,  which  is  about  seven  miles  from 
Fort  Duquesne,  without  meeting  any  ex 
traordinary  event,  having  only  a  strag 
gler  or  two  picked  up  by  the  French 
Indians.  When  we  came  to  this  place 
we  were  attacked  (very  unexpectedly  I 
must  own)  by  about  300  French  and 
Indians.  Our  number  consisted  of  about 
1300  chosen  men,  well  armed,  chiefly 
regulars  who  were  immediately  struck 


92  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

with  such  a  deadly  panic  that  nothing 
but  confusion  and  disobedience  of  orders 
prevailed  among  them.  The  officers  in 
general  behaved  with  incomparable  brav 
ery,  for  which  they  greatly  suffered, 
there  being  nearly  60  killed  and  wound 
ed,  a  large  proportion  out  of  the  number 
we  had. 

Our  poor  Virginians  behaved  like  men 
and  died  like  soldiers,  for  T  believe  out 
of  three  companies  that  were  there  that 
day  scarce  30  were  left  alive.  Capt.  Pol- 
son  shared  almost  as  hard  a  fate,  for 
only  one  of  his  escaped;  in  short  the 
dastardly  behavior  of  the  English  sol 
diers  exposed  all  those  that  were  inclin 
ed  to  do  their  duty  to  almost  certain 
death,  and  at  length,  in  despite  of  every 
effort,  broke  and  ran  like  sheep  before 
the  hounds,  leaving  the  artillery,  am 
munition  and  provisions  and  every  indi 
vidual  thing  amongst  us  as  a  prey  for 
the  enemy ;  and  wrhen  we  endeavored  to 
rally  them,  in  hopes  of  regaining  our  in 
valuable  loss,  it  was  with  as  much  suc 
cess  as  if  we  had  attempted  to  stop  the 
wild  boars  on  the  mountains. 

The  General  was  wounded  behind  the 
shoulder  and  in  the  breast,  of  which  he 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  93 

died  the  third  day  after.  His  two  aids-de 
camp  were  both  wounded,  but  are  in  a 
fair  way  of  recovery.  Col.  Burton  and 
Sir  John  Sinclair  were  also  wounded  and 
I  hope  will  get  over  it. 

Sir  Peter  Halket,  with  many  other 
brave  officers,  was  killed  on  the  field.  I. 
luckily,  escaped  without  a  wound, 
though  I  had  four  bullets  through  my 
coat  and  two  horses  shot  under  me. 

It  is  supposed  we  left  300  or  more 
dead  on  the  field ;  about  that  number  we 
brought  off  wounded,  and  it  is  imagined, 
with  great  notice  too,  that  two-thirds  of 
both  these  numbers  received  their  shots 
from  our  own  cowardly  dogs  of  soldiers 
who  gathered  themselves  into  a  body, 
contrary  to  orders,  ten  or  twelve  deep; 
would  then  level  and  fire  and  shoot  down 
the  men  before  them. 

I  tremble  at  the  conseqeunce  this  de 
feat  may  have  on  the  back  inhabitants, 
who  I  suppose  will  all  leave  their  habi 
tations  unless  proper  measures  are 
taken  for  their  security.  Col.  Dunbar, 
who  commands  at  present,  intends  as 
soon  as  his  men  are  recruited  at  this 
place,  to  continue  his  march  to  Phila 
delphia  into  winter  quarters,  so  that 


94  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

there  will  be  none  left  here  unless  the 
poor  remains  of  the  Virginia  troops  who 
now  are  and  will  be  too  small  to  guard 
our  frontier. 

As  Capt.  Orme  is  now  writing  to  your 
Honor  I  doubt  not  that  he  will  give  you 
a  circumstantial    account    of    all    things 
which   will   make   it   needless   for   me   to 
add  more  than  that  I  am,  Honorable  Sir, 
Your  most  humble  servant, 
Geo.  Washington. 

Pie  then  retired  to  Mt.  Vernon,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  26th  day  of  July.  Col. 
Dunbar  returned  to  England,  where  in 
November  following  he  was  suspended 
because  of  his  injudicious  retreat,  and 
was  sent  into  honorable  retirement  as 
lieutenant  governor  of  Gibraltar.  He 
was  never  again  actively  employed,  and 
died  in  1777. 

By  the  defeat  of  Braddock  and  the 
withdrawal  of  the  troops  the  frontiers  of 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia 
Avere  left  in  unutterable  gloom.  The 
most  westward  forts  were  Fort  Cumber 
land  and  Fort  Ligonier,  and  behind  these 
the  inhabitants  shut  themselves  far  east 
of  their  western  boundaries.  This  condi- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  95 

tion  of  affairs  continued  until  in  Novem 
ber.  1758,  when  Brig.  Gen.  John  Forbes 
crossed  the  mountains  at  Ligonier  and 
settled  forever  the  dispute  for  the  Ohio 
Valley. 

Some  of  the  Participants. 

One  Samuel  Jenkins,  who  was  born  a 
slave  and  wras  the  property  of  Captain 
Broadwater,  of  Fairfax  County,  Virginia, 
drove  a  provision  train  over  the  moun 
tains  in  the  Braddock  campaign.  He 
died  in  Lancaster,  Ohio,  on  the  4th  of 
February,  1849,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
115  years.  He  doubtless  was  the  last 
survivor  of  this  ill-fated  campaign. 

Owen  Davis  was  the  owner  and  driver 
of  a  team  in  this  expedition.  He  settled 
on  Georges  Creek,  where  he  built  a  mill, 
which  he  replaced  by  a  far  better  one  in 
1795.  This  mill  was  erected  very  near 
the  site  of  what  is  recently  known  as  the 
Ruble  mill.  Mr.  Davis  died  December 
22,  1809,  in  the  85th  year  of  his  age,  and 
was  buried  on  his  farm,  near  the  Ruble 
mill. 

Sir  John  Sinclair  was  shot  through  the 
bodv  and  carried  to  Fort  Cumberland. 


96  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

He  afterward  fully  recovered  and  ac 
companied  Gen.  Forbes  in  his  expedition 
against  Fort  Duquesne,  and  the  very 
best  eulogy  that  general  could  pass  upon 
Sir  John  was  that  "his  only  talent  was 
for  throwing  everything  into  confusion." 
One  other  accomplishment  might  have 
been  mentioned,  that  "he  could,  on  the 
least  provocation,  use  the  vilest  and 
most  profane  language." 

Sir  Peter  Halket,  of  Pitcairn,  had 
ominous  forebodings  as  to  the  result  of 
the  coming  conflict,  and  had  earnestly 
pressed  upon  his  general  the  importance 
of  guarding  against  an  ambuscade.  He 
was  captain  of  the  44th  regiment  of  foot 
and  was  in  command  of  the  First  Bri 
gade.  In  the  engagement  he  was  killed 
from  his  horse  while  directing  the  move 
ments  of  his  men.  Two  of  his  sons  were 
fighting  under  his  command,  one  of 
which,  Lieutenant  James  Halket,  hasten 
ed  at  the  moment  to  his  aid,  and,  bend 
ing  to  raise  the  prostrate  form,  he  too 
was  pierced  by  a  bullet  from  the  invis 
ible  foe  and  fell  dead  across  the  prostrate 
form  of  his  father. 

When  Brig.  Gen.  John  Forbes  march 
ed  his  army  out  in  the  fall  of  1758 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS  97 

against  Fort  Duquesne,  there  accompani 
ed  him  a  son  of  Sir  Peter  Halket,  who 
was  also  Sir  Peter  Halket,  acting  at  this 
time  as  aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  Forbes,  a 
major  of  the  42nd  regiment.  His  mis 
sion  on  this  occasion  to  America  was 
principally  to  ascertain  more  definitely 
the  fate  of  his  father.  In  company  with 
other  officers  of  the  Highland  regiment 
and  a  company  of  Pennsylvania  rifles, 
under  Captain  West  and  a  few  Indians 
from  the  neighborhood  who  had  fought 
with  the  French  on  that  fatal  day,  they 
proceeded  to  the  scene  of  the  conflict. 
One  of  the  Indian  guides  had  seen  Sir 
Peter  fall  and  had  also  witnessed  the 
sad  fate  of  the  son  and  had  no  difficulty 
in  identifying  the  spot.  The  thick- fallen 
leaves  were  removed  and  the  two  ghastly 
skeletons  of  father  and  son  discovered 
as  they  had  fallen.  Upon  examination, 
young  Halket  identified  the  remains  of 
his  father  by  a  peculiar  artificial  tooth 
and  exclaimed  "it  is  my  father"  and  sank 
into  the  arms  of  his  scarce  less  affected 
companions.  The  two  remains  were 
wrapped  in  a  Highland  plaid  and  inter 
red  in  a  common  grave  and  a  volley  was 
fired  over  their  resting  places.  A  stone 


98  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

was  placed  to  mark  the  sacred  spot  and 
the  little  company  marched  silently  and 
sadly  aAvay.  For  more  than  a  century 
that  stone  remained  to  indicate  to  the 
visitor  of  this  historic  ground  the  last 
resting  place  of  one  of  England's  bravest 
soldiers  and  Scotland's  noblest  sons. 

Fort  Cumberland  Continued. 

After  the  retirement  of  the  troops  un 
der  Col.  Dunbar  from  Fort  Cumberland 
a  garrison  was  still  maintained  at  that 
post  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier 
settlers.  Col.  James  Innes  held  com 
mand  there  until  in  May,  1756,  when  he 
placed  the  command  with  Major  James 
Livingston.  Col.  Adam  Stephens  suc 
ceeded  Major  Livingston  in  the  fall  of 
1756.  About  the  ist  of  February,  1757, 
Washington,  then  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Virginia  forces,  established  his  head 
quarters  at  Fort  Cumberland,  where  he 
remained  until  the  middle  of  April,  when 
Capt.  Dagworthy  was  placed  in  com 
mand. 

Marauding  parties  of  Indians  and 
French  continued  to  harass  the  frontier, 
penetrating  far  eastward  of  Fort  Cum- 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS  99 

berland,  murdering,  scalping  and  plund 
ering  even  in  sight  of  the  walls  of  the 
fort.  Sienr  Langlade,  at  the  head  of  a 
detachment  of  French  and  Indians,  ad 
vanced  as  far  as  Fort  Cumberland  in  Au 
gust,  1756,  to  ascertain  the  movements 
of  the  English,  and  after  reconnoitering 
the  locality  retired  without  doing  seri 
ous  damage.  Sieur  de  Celeron  de  Blain- 
ville,  with  a  scouting  party,  encountered 
some  English  near  the  fort  in  August. 
Three  of  the  English  were  killed  and 
scalped;  de  Blainville  and  three  Indians 
were  killed.  A  detachment  under  de 
Celeron  penetrated  as  far  as  Cresap's 
Post,  some  15  miles  east  of  Fort  Cumber 
land,  and  killed  eight  English. 

About  the  middle  of  July,  1765,  the 
last  British  troops  were  withdrawn  from 
Fort  Cumberland,  and  the  frontier  set 
tlers  were  left  to  their  own  resources. 
This  state  of  affairs,  happily,  was  of 
short  duration,  as  a  treaty  of  peace  be 
tween  the  whites  and  Indians  was  effect 
ed  early  in  1776. 

When  what  is  known  as  the  "Whiskey 
Insurrection"  took  place  in  Western 
Pennsylvania  in  1794,  the  President  or 
dered  out  some  government  troops  for 


WASHINGTON'S  AND 


its  suppression.  Some  of  the  troops  were 
quartered  for  a  short  time  at  Fort  Cum 
berland.  While  here  they  were  inspect 
ed  by  General  Washington  on  the  iQth 
of  October,  with  Generals  Lee  and  Mor 
gan,  General  Washington  appearing  in 
full  uniform.  This  is  the  last  body  of 
troops  that  ever  occupied  Fort  Cumber 
land,  and  is  said  to  be  the  last  time  in 
which  Washington  appeared  in  full  uni 
form. 

The  stone  structure,  known  as  the 
Emmanuel  Episcopal  church,  now  oc 
cupies  a  portion  of  the  site  of  old  Fort 
Cumberland. 

General  Washington,  on  his  visit  to 
the  west  in  1784,  sought  to  visit  the  last 
resting  place  of  his  former  commander, 
through  respect  for  the  same,  but  his 
search  was  in  vain.  lie  wrote  :  "I  made 
diligent  search  for  the  grave,  but  the 
road  had  been  so  much  turned  and  the 
clear  land  so  much  extended  that  it 
could  not  be  found." 

Mr.  Abraham  Stewart,  father  of  the 
Hon.  Andrew  Stewart,  was  road  super 
visor,  and  in  1804,  while  repairing  the 
Braddock  road  at  this  place,  found  hu 
man  bones  a  few  yards  from  the  road. 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          1Q1 

The  military  trappings  found  with  them 
indicated  that  the  remains  were  those  of 
a  British  officer  of  rank,  and  as  General 
Braddock  was  known  to  have  been  buri 
ed  at  this  camp  the  bones  doubtless  were 
his.  These  bones  were  carefully  gather 
ed  up  and  reinterred  a  short  dis 
tance  eastward  from  the  place 
they  were  found,  at  the  foot  of 
an  oak  tree.  Mr.  Stewart  caused  a 
board  to  be  marked  "Braddock's  Grave," 
which  was  nailed  to  the  tree.  This  tree 
was  broken  off  during  a  severe  storm 
about  1868.  Mr.  Josiah  King,  editor  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Gazette,  frequently  spent 
a  few  weeks'  vacation  at  Chalk  Hill,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  grave  of  General 
Braddock,  and  noticing1  the  dilapidated 
condition  of  this  historic  spot,  made  ar 
rangements  to  have  it  enclosed  by  a  neat 
and  substantial  fence.  In  1872  he  pro 
cured  from  Murdock's  nursery  a  wil 
low  whose  parent  stem  drooped  over  the 
grave  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  at  St. 
Helena  and  planted  it  over  the  remains 
of  General  Braddock,  but  unfortunately 
it  soon  withered  and  died.  He  then 
planted  a  number  of  pine  trees  within 
the  enclosure,  which  still  remain  to  in- 


102  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

dicate  to  the  passerby  the  last  resting 
place  of  Major  General  Edward  Brad- 
dock. 

The  British  government  has  never 
taken  the  slightest  notice  of  the  spot 
where  sleep  the  remains  of  one  who 
gave  his  service  and  his  life  for  the  Eng 
lish  cause.  The  situation  is  on  the 
north  side  and  a  few  yards  from  the  Na 
tional  Road,  and  a  few  rods  east  of  where 
Braddock's  run  crosses  that  road,  and 
about  nine  miles  east  of  Uniontown. 

"Far  from  the  land  he  called  his  own, 
Nor    friends  nor  kindred  o'er  him  weep ; 

A  group  of  forest  trees  alone, 
Stand  sentinels  around  his  keep." 

General  Braddock's  Watch. 

The  gold  watch-case  of  which  the 
above  is  an  illustration  was  found  near 
the  route  of  Braddock's  retreating  army 
in  1880,  near  a  fine  spring. 

The  case  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  en 
graver's  skill  and  illustrates  the  legend 
of  "The  Judgment  of  Paris."  Paris  is 
represented  in  a  sitting  posture ;  with 
his  right  hand  he  is  presenting  the  gold 
en  apple  to  Venus  who  stands  before 


Braddock's   Watch 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS          1Q3 

him.  Beneath  his  feet  are  the  figures  of 
a  dog  and  a  quiver  of  arrows.  Between 
Paris  and  Venus  is  the  figure  of  Cupid. 
In  the  rear  of  Venus  are  the  figures  of 
Hera  and  Athens,  the  rivals  of  Venus. 
The  owl,  the  helmet,  the  shield  and  two 
peafowls  are  also  represented. 

It  bears  the  name  of  the  engraver, 
George  Michael  Moser,  who  excelled  in 
his  profession  and  flourished  in  the  time 
of  Braddock. 

The  dying  general  was  carried  along 
with  the  retreating  army  and  doubtless 
this  watch  dropped  from  his  pocket  and 
was  picked  up  by  one  of  the  frightened 
soldiers  and  hidden  near  a  spring  ex 
pecting  some  day  to  recover  it,  but  the 
opportunity  never  came. 

The  works  of  the  watch  Avere  corrod 
ed  away  when  found  and  the  case  is 
now  kept  as  a  relic  of  that  ill-fated  ex 
pedition. 

On  July  4th,  1908,  a  tablet  was  erect 
ed  to  mark  the  grave  of  General  Brad- 
dock  containing  the  following  inscrip 
tion  : 

Here  lie  the  mortal  remains  of 
Major  General   Braddock, 


104  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

who  in  command  of  the  Forty-fourth  and 
Forty-eighth  regiments  of  English  regu 
lars,  was  mortally  wounded  in  an  en 
gagement  with  the  French  and  Indians 
under  the  command  of  de  Beaujeu  at  the 
battle  of  the  Monongahela,  within  ten 
miles  of  Fort  Duquesne,  July  9,  1755. 

He  was  borne  back  with  the  retreating 
army  to  the  Old  Orchard  camp,  where 
he  died  July  13,  1755. 

Erected  July  4,  1908,  under  the  auspi 
ces  of  the  Centennial  Celebration  com 
mittee  of  1904. 

The  Site  of  Braddock's  Grave  to  be  Made 
a  Park. 

In  1909,  a  number  of  spirited  citizens 
of  Uniontown,  Pa.,  organized  an  associa 
tion  to  be  known  as  "The  General  Ed 
ward  Braddock  Memorial  Park  Asso 
ciation."  The  officers  chosen  were  Ed 
gar  S.  Hackney,  cashier  of  the  First  Na 
tional  Bank,  president;  James  Hadden, 
secretary  and  treasurer;  and  Edgar  S. 
Hackney,  James  Hadden,  W.  C.  Mc- 
Cormick,  Chas.  S.  Seaton,  Isaac  W.  Se- 
mans,  E.  H.  Reppert,  J.  C.  Work,  W.  A. 
Stone,  and  William  Hunt,  directors. 


Braddock's  Grave 


BRADDOGK'S  EXPEDITIONS          1Q5 

Twenty-four  acres  of  land,  including 
the  grave,  have  been  secured  by  the  as 
sociation  with  the  purpose  of  embellish 
ing  and  preserving  this  historic  spot. 


106  WASHINGTON'S  AND 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  Sketch  of  Thos.  Fausett,  the  Slayer  of 

Major  General  Edward  Braddock,  who 

Became   a   Resident   of   Fayette 

County,  Pa. 

The     English     Attempt     to     Drive     the 
French  from  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"Circumstances  make  strange  bedfel 
lows,"  and  it  was  under  peculiar  circum 
stances  that  the  name  of  Tom  Fausett 
has  become  inseparably  connected  with 
that  of  the  brave  officer  of  the  famous 
Cold  Stream  Guards,  Major  General  Ed 
ward  Braddock. 

When  France  began  the  erection  of  a 
cordon  of  posts  along  the  Allegheny  and 
Ohio  rivers  with  the  purpose  of  taking 
possession  of  the  great  Mississippi  val 
ley,  England  was  aroused  to  the  fact 
that  unless  active  measures  be  immedi- 
atelv  taken  she  must  forfeit  all  her 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          1Q7 

claims  to  this  vast  and  fertile  portion  of 
the  new  world. 

English  traders  had  been  driven  from 
their  trading  posts  on  the  Ohio  and  oth 
ers  had  been  carried  away  as  prisoners 
by  the  French,  when  Robert  Dinwiddie, 
then  governor  of  the  province  of  Virginia, 
commissioned  George  Washington,  then 
just  twenty-one  years  of  age,  as  an  en 
voy  to  the  French  posts  at  the  head  of 
the  Allegheny  River  to  demand  of  the 
commandant  of  the  French  forces  the 
purpose  of  their  encroachment  upon  the 
territory  claimed  by  the  English  crown, 
and  to  demand  his  immediate  removal. 

Being  apprised  of  the  intentions  of 
the  French,  the  governor  of  Virginia  im 
mediately  dispatched  a  small  force  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Trent,  Lieuten 
ant  Frasher  and  Ensign  Ward,  to  take 
possession  of  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio,  and 
to  hold  the  same  against  the  intrusion  of 
the  French. 

Ward  began  the  construction  of  a 
small  fort,  but  before  its  completion  the 
French  dropped  down  the  Allegheny  in 
great  numbers  and  Ward,  who  was  the 
only  officer  present  at  the  time,  was  com 
pelled  to  surrender  without  a  blow,  and 


108  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

retraced  his  steps  to  Virginia,  and  the 
French  began  the  construction  of  a  fort 
which  they  named  Fort  Duquesne. 

At  Will's  Creek,  where  the  city  of 
Cumberland  now  stands,  Ward  was  met 
by  Washington,  who,  in  command  of  a 
small  force,  was  on  his  way  to  the  forks 
with  reinforcements. 

Washington  Fights  His  First  Battle  and 
Defeats  the  French. 

On  reaching  the  Great  Meadows,  fifty- 
one  miles  west  of  Will's  Creek,  Washing 
ton  learned  that  a  body  of  French  had 
been  seen  not  a  great  distance  off,  and  by 
the  aid  of  a  few  friendly  Indians  under 
the  command  of  their  chief,  the  Half- 
King,  who  were  encamped  at  the  Great 
Rock  on  the  crest  of  Laurel  Hill,  he  was 
enabled  to  surprise  them  in  their  se 
cluded  encampment.  Here  an  engage 
ment  took  place  at  sunrise  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  28th  of  May,  1754,  in  which 
Jumonville,  the  commander  of  the 
French  party,  and  nine  others  were  kill 
ed,  one  wounded  and  twenty-one  taken 
prisoners,  among  whom  were  M.  La 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          1Q9 

Force,  M.  Drouillion  and  two  cadets; 
one,  a  Canadian,  escaped. 

This  was  the  first  battle  in  which 
Washington  was  ever  engaged,  and  was 
the  initial  battle  of  the  great  French  and 
Indian  war. 

When  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  Ju- 
monville  reached  Fort  Duquesne  great 
activity  prevailed  and  a  force  was  sent 
against  Washington  under  the  command 
of  M.  Coulon  de  Villiers,  who  was  a  half- 
brother  to  Jumonville.  This  force  came 
up  the  Monongahela  River  in  large  canoes 
to  the  mouth  of  Redstone  Creek,  thence 
passing  the  place  of  the  engagement 
with  Jumonville  to  the  Great  Meadows, 
to  which  place  Washington  had  retreat 
ed  and  erected  a  small  stockade  which 
he  named  Fort  Necessity.  Here  on  the 
third  day  of  July,  1754,  the  French 
forces  made  an  attack,  and  owing  to 
the  distressed  condition  of  his  little 
army,  Washington  capitulated;  this  be 
ing  the  first  as  well  as  the  last  time 
Washington  ever  surrendered  to  a  foe. 

News  of  this  defeat  was  soon  heralded 
to  England  and  preparations  were  im 
mediately  made  to  send  two  regiments 
of  trained  soldiers  to  recover  what  the 


HO  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

provincial   troops   had  failed  to  accomp 
lish. 

General  Braddock  Lands  in  America. 

Major  General  Edward  Braddock  had 
entered  the  British  arm}'  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  as  a  member  of  the  Cold 
Stream  Guards,  a  very  aristocratic  di 
vision  of  the  army.  He  was  commis 
sioned  general-in-chief  of  His  Majesty's 
forces  in  North  America  and  arrived  at 
Alexandria  in  Virginia,  February  20, 
1755.  Two  regiments  of  the  royal  army, 
consisting;  of  the  Fort)— fourth  and  Forty- 
eighth,  to  which  were  added  such  pro 
vincials  as  might  be  recruited  from 
Maryland  and  Virginia  were  moved 
against  the  French  at  the  Forks  of  the 
Ohio,  where  they  had  erected  Fort  Du- 
qnesne  immediately  after  the  surrender 
of  Ward  as  before  mentioned,  and  thence 
to  Canada. 

After  a  long,  tedious  and  laborious 
march,  consuming  more  than  a  month 
from  the  time  he  left  Fort  Cumberland, 
General  Braddock  arrived  at  the  Mon- 
ongahela  River,  a  short  distance  below 
the  present  town  of  McKeesport.  The 


JBRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS          m 

army  crossed  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
river ;  here  the  maneuvers  of  the  troops 
presented  the  grandest  military  display 
Washington  claimed  it  was  ever  his  pri 
vilege  to  behold.  The  burnished  arms 
of  the  marching  columns  flashed  in  the 
light  of  the  morning  sun  as  they  step 
ped  to  the  strains  of  martial  music,  and 
the  proud  British  general  little  thought 
that  within  a  few  short  hours  these  dis 
ciplined  troops  in  which  he  now  reposed 
so  much  confidence  would  be  fleeing  in 
disorder  before  a  horde  of  yelling  sav 
ages. 

The  army  had  scarcely  recrossed  to 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  just  below 
the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek,  and  within 
ten  miles  of  the  fort  which  they  ex 
pected  to  enter  in  triumph  the  following 
day,  when  a  brisk  fire  was  received  from 
an  unseen  foe.  Braddock's  troops  re 
sponded,  but  to  little  effect  and  the  en 
gagement  which  lasted  for  three  hours 
was  most  furious. 

Braddock  Meets  a  Disastrous  Defeat. 

More  than  half  of  the  army  was  either 
killed  or  wounded,  two-thirds  of  them 


112  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

being  shot  down  by  their  own  men. 
Braddock  had  four  horses  killed  under 
him ;  at  last,  while  on  the  fifth,  he  re 
ceived  a  mortal  wound  which  shattered 
his  right  arm  and  penetrated  his  lungs. 
He  was  wrapped  in  a  silken  sash  taken 
from  about  his  waist,  which  English  offi 
cers  were  wont  to  carry,  and  by  his  aids, 
Captain  Orme  and  Captain  Stewart  of 
Virginia,  assisted  by  his  faithful  body 
servant,  Bishop,  whom  in  his  dying  mo 
ments  he  bequeathed  to  Washington,  he 
was  carried  off  the  field.  This  silken 
sash  was  later  presented  to  General 
Zachary  Taylor  and  contains  woven  in 
its  meshes  the  initials  "E.  B."  and  is 
marked  with  blood  stains  of  that  un 
fortunate  general.  It  was  in  the  posses 
sion  of  Mrs.  Bettie  Dandridge,  the 
daughter  of  President  Taylor,  of  Win 
chester,  Va.,  until  her  death. 

Out  of  eighty-nine  commissioned  offi 
cers  twenty-six  were  killed  and  thirty- 
seven  wrounded,  and  of  the  soldiers  four 
hundred  and  thirty  were  killed  and 
about  four  hundred  wounded,  the  killed 
being  in  excess  of  the  wounded.  Every 
field  officer  and  every  one  on  horseback 
except  Washington,  who  had  two  horses 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          H3 

killed  under  him  and  four  bullets  through 
his  coat,  was  either  killed  or  carried  off 
the  field  wounded.  Washington,  al 
though  enfeebled  and  emaciated  from 
fever,  formed  and  covered  the  retreat. 

The  officers  endeavored  in  vain  to  ral 
ly  the  distracted  troops,  and  to  intimi 
date  others  ran  the  fugitives  through 
with  the  sword,  and  were  in  turn  killed 
by  others.  One  eye  witness  declared 
that  the  slaughter  among  the  officers  was 
not  made  by  the  enemy,  but  as  they  had 
run  several  fugitives  through  the  body  to 
intimidate  the  rest,  when  they  were  at 
tempting  in  vain  to  rally  them,  some  oth 
ers  who  expected  the  same  fate  fired 
their  pieces  with  deadly  effect. 

During  the  whole  of  the  engagement 
Braddock  raved  and  swore  and  cursed 
his  troops  as  dastards  and  cowards.  The 
provincials,  being  acquainted  with  the 
Indian  mode  of  warfare,  had  taken  to 
the  trees  and  were  doing  good  execution, 
but  Braddock  ordered  them  to  stand  out, 
as  he  said,  "like  English  soldiers"  and 
fight  in  the  open.  He  struck  many  of 
them  down  with  his  sword,  among  whom 
was  Joseph  Fausett,  a  brother  to  the 


114  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

subject  of  this  sketch,  and  for  which  act 
he  paid  the  penalty  with  his  life. 

Braddock  was  described  as  "desperate 
in  his  fortune,  brutal  in  his  behavior  and 
obstinate  in  his  sentiments."  His  secre 
tary  writes  of  him  before  the  battle  "We 
have  a  general  most  judiciously  chosen 
for  being  disqualified  for  the  service  in 
which  he  is  employed  in  almost  every  re 
spect." 

Tom  Fausett  Fires  the  Fatal  Shot. 

Thomas  Fausett  and  his  brother,  Jo 
seph  Fausett,  were  enlisted  as  privates 
at  six  pence  a  day,  at  Shippensburg, 
Pennsylvania,  by  Captain  William  Poi 
son,  who  had  served  under  Washington 
in  the  expedition  of  1754,  into  Captain 
Cholmondeley's  company  of  the  48th 
regiment,  and  marched  with  the  advance 
of  Braddock's  army  to  the  fatal  field. 

During  the  engagement  Tom  witness 
ed  the  fearful  slaughter  of  the  army  by 
the  unseen  foe,  the  raving  madness  of 
his  commander  and  the  striking  down 
of  his  brother  for  no  other  offense  than 
that  of  fighting  in  the  only  successful 
manner  against  the  Indians.  This  was 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          H5 

too  much  for  a  man  of  his  temperament 
to  stand  and  he  determined  at  once  to 
have  revenge  and  at  the  same  time  to 
put  an  end  to  the  terrible  carnage  for 
which  the  officers  had  pleaded  in  vain. 
He  raised  his  gun  and  sent  the  deadly 
missile  crashing  through  the  right  arm 
and  into  the  lungs  of  Braddock,  who  as 
he  fell  from  his  horse  expressed  the  wish 
that  the  scene  of  his  defeat  might  wit 
ness  his  death. 

While  this  rash  act  of  Fausett  can 
never  be  palliated  but  deserves  hearty 
condemnation,  the  affection  he  had  for 
his  brother,  the  love  he  bore  toward  his 
comrades  and  countrymen  and  his  ad 
miration  for  Washington  appealed  to  his 
untutored  mind  and  brutal  instinct  more 
forcibly  than  his  loyalty  to  his  com 
mander. 

The  wounded  commander  was  borne 
along  with  the  retreating  army  until  10 
o'clock  of  the  evening  of  the  following 
day,  when  they  arrived  at  Gist's  planta 
tion,  in  the  exact  geographical  center  of 
what  is  now  Fayette  county.  Here  he 
awaited  provisions  and  hospital  stores 
which  he  had  ordered  sent  forward  from 
Col.  Dunbar,  who  was  encamped  on  the 


WASHINGTON'S  AND 


summit  of  Laurel  Hill,  six  miles  distant. 
Braddock  still  persisted  in  the  exercise 
of  his  authority,  and  on  the  nth  was  re 
moved  to  Dunbar's  camp  which  he  found 
to  be  in  the  utmost  confusion.  Here  he 
ordered  the  provisions  and  ammunition 
destroyed  lest  they  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
wagons  were  burned,  the  powder  casks 
were  staved  and  their  contents,  to  the 
amount  of  50,000  pounds,  cast  into  the 
stream.  Nothing  beyond  the  actual  ne 
cessities  of  a  flying  march  was  saved, 
and  until  recent  years  this  has  been  a 
fruitful  field  for  the  relic  seekers. 

Gen.   Braddock   Dies,  and  Tom  Fausett 
Locates  the  Grave  49  Years  Afterward. 

On  Sunday,  the  I3th,  the  army  retrac 
ed  its  steps  to  the  Old  Orchard  Camp 
where  it  had  halted  on  its  way  out.  The 
general  softly  repeated  to  himself:  "Who 
would  have  thought  it?"  and  turning  to 
Orme  said,  "We  shall  better  know  how 
to  deal  with  them  another  time."  He 
breathed  his  last  about  8  o'clock  on  the 
same  night  and  was  wrapped  in  his  cloak 
as  a  winding  sheet  and  was  buried  at 
daybreak  on  Monday  morning  at  the 


SHADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          H7 

camp  in  the  middle  of  the  road  that  the 
army  in  passing  over  the  grave  might 
obliterate  every  trace  of  its  whereabouts, 
and  thus  avoid  any  desecration  of  the 
body  by  the  Indians.  The  chaplain  hav 
ing  been  wounded,  Washington  read  the 
Episcopal  funeral  service  and  the  dead 
general  was  buried  in  the  honors  of  war. 
Abraham  Stewart,  father  of  the  late 
Honorable  Andrew  Stewart,  was  road 
supervisor  in  Wharton  township  in  1804, 
and  while  repairing  the  old  road  at  this 
place  Tom  Fausett,  who  had  settled  in 
this  neighborhood  after  the  retreat  of  the 
army,  as  will  be  related  hereafter,  came 
along  where  the  men  were  at  work  and 
remarked,  "If  you  will  dig  right  there," 
indicating,  "you  will  find  the  bones  of 
General  Braddock,"  and  sure  enough,  Mr. 
vStewart  dug  as  directed  and  exhumed 
the  bones  of  the  unfortunate  general  and 
his  military  trappings.  A  merchant  hap 
pened  to  witness  the  discovery  and  car 
ried  off  one  of  the  largest  bones  which 
he  placed  in  Peale's  museum  in  Phila 
delphia  where  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
Mr.  Stewart  carefully  reinterred  the  re 
mainder  of  the  bones  at  a  short 
distance  east  of  the  place  where 


118  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

they  were  found,  at  the  foot  of  an 
oak  tree  and  caused  a  board  to  be  mark 
ed  "Braddock's  Grave,"  which  was  nail 
ed  to  the  tree.  This  tree  was  broken  off  in 
a  severe  storm  about  1868.  Mr.  James 
Mitchell,  a  blacksmith,  who  lived  at  Mt. 
Washington,  and  Mr.  Peter  Hager,  who 
was  raised  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Stewart, 
with  others  witnessed  the  reinterment  of 
Braddock's  remains  and  often  related  the 
circumstances  to  others. 

Mr.  Josiah  King,  editor  of  the  Pitts- 
burg  Gazette,  frequently  spent  a  few 
weeks'  vacation  at  Chalk  Hill  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  the  grave  of  General  Braddock, 
and  noticing  the  dilapidated  condition  of 
this  historic  spot,  made  arrangements 
with  Mr.  Dixon,  the  proprietor  of  the 
land,  to  have  it  enclosed  with  a  neat  and 
substantial  fence.  In  1872,  he  procured 
from  Murdock's  nursery  a  willow-  whose 
parent  stem  drooped  over  the  grave  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena  and 
planted  it  over  the  remains  of  General 
Braddock,  but,  unfortunately  it  soon 
withered  and  died.  He  then  planted  a 
number  of  pine  trees  within  the  enclos 
ure  which  still  remain  to  indicate  to  pas- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          H9 

sers-by  the  last  resting  place  of  the  un 
fortunate  general. 

The  British  government  has  never  tak 
en  the  slightest  notice  of  the  spot  where 
sleep  the  remains  of  one  who  gave  his 
service  and  his  life  for  the  English 
cause. 

"Far  from  the  land  he  called  his  own, 
Nor  friends  nor  kindred  o'er  him  \veep ; 

A  group  of  forest  trees  alone 

Stand  sentinels  around  his  keep." 

The  situation  is  on  the  north  side  and 
a  few  yards  from  the  National  Road  and 
a  few  rods  east  of  where  Braddock's  Run 
crosses  that  road,  about  nine  miles  east 
of  Uniontown. 

Tom  Fausett,  the  slayer  of  Braddock, 
was  a  large,  illiterate,  muscular  man  of 
great  strength,  rude  habits  and  strong 
passions.  His  brother,  Joseph,  was 
doubtless  the  same,  and,  as  before  stated, 
both  were  enlisted  and  served  in  the 
same  company  during  the  expedition. 

When  Braddock's  retreating  army  pas- 
ed  over  the  mountains  confusion  prevail 
ed  and  many  deserted  from  the  ranks, 
among  whom  were  Tom  and  Joe  Fausett. 


120  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Washington's   Springs    on   the    Crest   of 

Laurel  Hill  Once  Owned  by  Tom 

Fausett. 

The  next  we  learn  of  Tom  Fausett  we 
find  him  located  on  the  summit  of  Laurel 
Hill  at  the  junction  of  Dunlap's  Road, 
which  led  to  the  Monongahela  River  at 
the  mouth  of  Dunlap's  Creek,  with  the 
Braddock  Road,  which  here  turned 
abruptly  to  the  north  and  on  to  Gist's 
and  to  Stewart's  Crossing  of  the  Yough- 
iogheny  River  a  short  distance  below  the 
present  town  of  Connellsville. 

This  location  has  always  been  known 
as  Washington's  Springs  and  was  on  a 
tract  of  102^4  acres  of  land  which  was 
warranted  the  I7th  of  September,  1772, 
to  Henry  Hunt.  Here  Fausett  conduct 
ed  a  tavern  for  some  years,  besides 
spending  much  of  his  time  in  hunting 
the  wild  game  so  abundant  in  those 
days.  A  writer  in  the  National  Intel 
ligencer,  supposed  to  have  been  the  late 
William  Darby,  Esq.,  said:  "When  my 
father  was  removing  with  his  family  to 
the  west  one  of  the  Fausetts  kept  a  pub 
lic  house  eastward  from  Uniontown,  with 
whom  we  lodged  about  the  roth  of  Oc- 


r- 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          121 

tober,  i/Si,  and  there  it  was  made  any 
thing  but  a  secret  that  he  dealt  the  death 
blow  to  the  British  general.  Thirteen 
years  afterwards,  1/94,  I  again  met  Tom 
Fausett  and  put  to  him  the  plain  ques 
tion,  'Did  you  shoot  General  Braddock?' 
and  his  reply  was  prompt  and  explicit, 
'I  did  shoot  him/  and  then  went  on  to 
explain  that  by  so  doing  he  had  contri 
buted  to  save  what  was  left  of  the  army. 
The  property  rolls  of  Wharton  towrn- 
ship  give  Tom  Fausett  as  located  here 
and  having  in  his  possession  horses  and 
cows  as  taxables.  How  Fausett  acquir 
ed  the  right  to  this  tract  is  not  apparent, 
but  on  April  2Qth,  1788,  he  disposed  of  it 
as  the  following  abstract  from  the  public 
records  will  show : 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that 
I,  Thomas  Fossit,  of  the  county  of  Phay- 
ette  and  state  of  Pennsylvania  for  and  in 
Consideration  of  the  sum  of  Fifty 
Pounds  to  Mee  In  hand  Paid  by  Isaac 
Philips  of  the  same  Place  the  Receipt 
whereof  I  do  acknowledge  have  Granted, 
bargained,  sold,  Releas'd,  confirmed  and 
made  over  all  My  rite  tract  of  Land  and 
Parcel  of  Land  I  now  live  Upon  at  the 


122  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

forks  of  the  Road  on  the  top  of  Laurel 
Hill  Known  by  the  name  of  Washing 
ton's  Spring  adjoining  the  Lands  of 
Jonathan  Hill  Els  whereby  Vacant  Land 
Containing  one  hundred  acres  More  or 
less  To  Have  and  to  Hold  the  said  tract 
of  Land  and  premises  and  appertenances 
thereunto  belonging  unto  the  said  Isaac 
Phillips  his  Heirs  and  assigns  war 
ranting  and  defending  it  all,  Every  of  My 
self  My  heirs  or  any  Claim  or  Claiming 
by  virtue  of  My  Rite  and  title  to  said 
Land  only  nevertheless  under  and  Sub 
ject  to  the  States  and  it  all  other  dues 
and  Demands  unto  which  the  same  are 
Liable. 

In  witness  whereof  I  Have  set  my 
Hand  and  seal  hereunto.  Dated  the  2gth 
day  of  April  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
Thousand  Seven  Hundred  Eighty  Eight. 

his 

THOMAS  X  FOSSET,  seal" 
mark. 

A  few  years  after  Fausett  had  disposed 
of  his  claim  to  the  Washington's  Springs 
tract  it  came  into  the  possession  of  John 
Slack  who  had  previously  kept  a  tavern 
in  Uniontown.  Slack's  tavern  stood 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          123 

some  little  distance  south  of  the  Wash 
ington's  Springs  and  here  he  conducted 
his  business  for  many  years.  This  was 
a  favorite  stopping  place  and  was  ex 
tensively  known  and  patronized  by  the 
wagoners  on  the  old  road.  His  daugh 
ter,  Tamzon,  married  Ephraim  McClean 
who  kept  a  public  house  on  the  summit 
of  Laurel  Hill  in  the  palmy  days  of  the 
old  National  Road.  Slack's  place  was  con 
sidered  a  good  stand  for  the  entertain 
ment  of  the  traveling  public  until  the 
completion  of  the  National  Road,  at  which 
time  the  old  Braddock  Road  was  aban 
doned  and  quiet  once  more  settled  over 
the  old  Nemacolin  Trail. 

Tom  Fausett  was  said  to  have  been 
married  three  times  and  that  two  of  his 
wives  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  and 
that  his  favorite,  as  he  termed  her  his 
"little  Dutch  wife,"  was  tomahawked  be 
fore  his  eyes.  There  is  no  tradition  in 
this  section  of  the  country  that  he  had 
a  wife  after  settling  here,  but  after  re 
tiring  from  the  tavern  business  and  dis 
posing  of  his  tract  of  land  he  remained  a 
citizen  of  Wharton  township,  and  for 
some  time  occupied  a  cabin  on  the  old 
Braddock  road  back  of  Chalk  Hill.  This 


124  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

old  cabin  was  west  of  what  was  long 
known  as  the  Cushman  House,  the  loca 
tion  of  which  is  still  visible,  and  still 
west  of  his  old  cabin  is  a  group  of  im 
mense  rocks  known  as  the  "Peddler's 
Rocks."  With  this  picturesque  group  of 
rocks  is  connected  the  legend  that  at  one 
time  a  peddler  was  murdered  here  for 
his  money  and  pack  of  jewelry  and  other 
valuables  which  he  carried.  His  pack 
and  other  articles  were  found  secreted 
among  these  rocks,  but  what  became  of 
the  peddler  was  never  certainly  known, 
but  suspicion  rested  upon  more  than  one 
of  the  several  persons  living  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  rocks. 

While  Tom  Fausett  occupied  this  old 
cabin,  making  a  precarious  living  with 
his  gun,  he  had  as  his  housekeeper  an 
old  colored  woman  who  had  been  a  slave. 
One  morning  upon  calling  his  house 
keeper  and  receiving  no  response  he  went 
to  her  couch  and  found  her  cold  in  death. 
She  was  buried  in  a  field  some  distance 
away  between  two  apple  trees,  as  mark 
ers,  and  as  there  was  no  minister  pres 
ent  to  conduct  the  funeral  service  one  of 
the  neighbors  deeming  it  appropriate 


Peddler's  Rocks 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS          125 

that  some  remarks  should  be  made  at  the 
grave,  ventured  the  following: 

"Earth  to  earth  and  dust  to  dust, 

If  the  Lord  wont  take  her  the  devil  must." 

Joseph  Fausett,  although  struck  down 
with  the  sword  of  the  enraged  Braddock, 
survived,  and  also  became  a  resident  of 
Wharton  township,  and  left  descendants. 
One  of  his  sons,  Joseph  Fausett,  Jr.,  mar 
ried  Amelia  Lynch,  daughter  of  Corneli 
us  Lynch  of  Uniontown,  who  at  one 
time  owned  and  occupied  the  ground 
now  covered  by  the  Thompson-Ruby 
building,  corner  Main  and  Morgantown 
streets.  This  son,  Joseph,  owned  a  farm 
north  of  Chalk  Hill  and  died  young,  leav 
ing  a  wife  and  two  small  children,  Joseph 
and  Elizabeth,  the  latter  of  whom  is 
well  remembered  by  the  older  citizens  of 
Uniontown.  The  widow,  as  adminis 
tratrix,  sold  the  farm,  September  28th, 
1800,  to  John  Chaplin  who  in  turn  con 
veyed  the  same  to  Jonathan  Downer. 
Another  son  of  the  original  Joseph  Fau 
sett  was  Uriah  who  left  quite  a  family  of 
which  one  daughter,  Rebecca,  made  her 
home  in  Wharton  township  until  old 


126  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

age  overtook  her  when  she  was  sent  to 
the  county  home,  to  which  institution 
she  was  admitted  May  17,  1906,  and 
where  she  died  Jan.  9,  1910,  aged  84 
years,  having  made  her  home  for  more 
than  forty  years  with  William  Smith  and 
was  later  the  housekeeper  of  Isaac  Spik- 
er  a  short  distance  east  of  Farmington. 

Tom  Fausett  Confesses  That  He  Fired 
the  Fatal  Shot  That  Killed  Braddock, 

Tom  Fausett  never  denied  that  he 
fired  the  shot  that  killed  Braddock,  but 
upon  repeated  occasions,  especially  when 
in  his  cups,  did  he  relate  the  circum 
stances  which  prompted  him  to  commit 
the  deed.  Besides  the  confessions  al 
ready  recited,  Mr.  Freeman  Lewis,  who 
assisted  Judge  Veech  in  collecting  data 
in  compiling  his  "Monongahela  of  Old/' 
recites  that  he  at  one  time  taught  a 
country  school  and  one  day  when  the 
children  were  at  play  he  heard  the  cry  of 
'There's  old  Tom  Fausett,  the  man  who 
killed  Braddock."  The  children  feared 
him,  his  appearance  and  noisiness,  es 
pecially  when  intoxicated,  being  rather 
terrifying.  I  knew  him  and  got  him  to 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          127 

sit  down  by  a  tree.  He  at  once  began 
fluttering  his  fingers  over  his  mouth  to 
imitate  the  roll  of  a  drum,  he  soon  got  at 
his  old  rigmarole,  which  ran  about  thus : 
Poor  fellows — poor  fellows — they  are  all 
gone — murdered  by  a  madman — Brad- 
dock  was  a  madman — he  would  not  let 
us  tree,  but  made  us  stand  out  and  be 
shot  down  when  we  could  see  no  In 
dians  ; — Yes,  Braddock  was  a  madman. 
He  said,  "No  skulking,  no  treeing,  but 
stand  out  and  give  them  fair  English 
play.1'  If  he  had  been  shot  when  the  bat 
tle  began  and  Washington  had  taken 
command  we  would  have  licked  them, — 
yes,  we'd  a  licked  then."  "How  could 
you  have  done  that?"  I  asked.  "Why, 
we'd  'ave  charged  on  them,  and  driven 
them  out  of  the  brush  and  peavines, — 
then  we  would  have  seen  their  red  skins 
and  could  have  peppered  them — yes, 
we'd  have  peppered  their  red  skins."  He 
would  then  repeat  his  "boo-oo-oo  my 
old  Virginia  Blues — poor  fellows — all 
gone/'  &c.,  &c.,  and  tears  would  roll  over 
his  rough  cheeks. 

Fausett  often  related  the  circumstances 
of  the  killing  of  Braddock  to  the  late 
Hon.  Andrew  Stewart,  who  served  eigh- 


128  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

teen  years  in  congress,  who  when  a 
young  man  and  a  resident  of  Wharton 
township  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
Fausett,  then  in  his  old  age.  Peter  Hag- 
er,  who  was  raised  as  a  member  of  the 
family  of  Abraham  Stewart,  and  who  as 
sisted  in  removing  the  bones  of  General 
Braddock,  repeatedly  heard  Fausett  re 
late  the  circumstances  of  the  killing  of 
what  he  termed  the  madman. 

The  late  Basil  Brownfield  of  South 
Union  township,  who  was  born  near  the 
present  site  of  Smithfield,  related  that 
Tom  Fausett  frequently  visited  that  lo 
cality  on  hunting  expeditions,  and  that  by 
frequent  interviews  with  him  he  learned 
that  the  Fausetts  were  at  one  time  resi 
dents  of  the  South  Branch  valley,  in  the 
present  state  of  West  Virginia,  from  the 
neighborhood  of  the  site  of  Moorefield, 
and  that  Tom's  principal  occupation  was 
that  of  a  hunter. 

One  time  on  returning  from  a  hunting 
expedition  he  was  horrified  at  finding  his 
cabin  in  ashes  and  the  dead  and  scalped 
bodies  of  his  wife  and  children  a  short 
distance  off  where  they  had  been  over 
taken  and  slaughtered  by  the  Indians. 
He  could  never  refer  to  this  incident 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS         129 

without  manifesting  great  emotion  and 
tears  would  roll  down  his  rugged  cheeks. 
He  said  he  could  not  remain  in  the  vicin 
ity  where  his  family  had  been  killed, 
and  removed  to  Pennsylvania  where  he 
and  his  brother  enlisted  in  Braddock's 
campaign. 

Mr.  Brownfield  further  related  that 
Fausett  was  a  man  of  rugged  frame,  of 
uninviting  features,  distant  in  his  man 
ners,  rarely  associating  with  others,  was 
not  communicative  when  sober  but  in 
clined  to  be  boisterous  and  boastful  when 
intoxicated.  He  frequently  related  to 
Mr.  Brownfield  that  he  fired  the  fatal 
shot  at  Braddock  in  revenge  for  strik 
ing  his  brother  and  for  other  offenses. 

It  is  related  that  an  Indian  trader  by 
the  name  of  McCullough  used  to  travel 
an  Indian  trail  leading  from  Winchester 
to  the  west  and  the  trail  became  known 
as  McCullough's  path.  This  McCullough 
was  in  the  habit  of  supplying  the  Indi 
ans,  even  in  times  of  war,  with  knives, 
hatchets,  powder  and  balls.  The  set 
tlers  threatened  him  for  this  but  he 
would  not  desist.  Learning  when  he 
was  to  pass  that  way  a  number  of  set 
tlers  disguised  themselves  and  went  in 


130  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

pursuit.  They  caught  and  threatened  him 
with  dire  punishment  unless  he  gave  up 
his  nefarious  traffic.  He  at  first  refused 
to  comply  with  their  wishes,  but  Tom 
Fausett,  being  one  of  the  party,  caught 
McCullough  in  his  giant  grasp  and  held 
him  until  his  tormentors  made  him  prom 
ise  never  more  to  transgress,  and  after 
despoiling  him  of  his  peltry,  they  let  him 
go,  and  he  never  was  seen  again  in  that 
region  of  country. 

Writers  upon  this  unfortunate  expedi 
tion  are  wont  to  cast  a  doubt  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  Braddock  received  his 
death  wound,  and  produce  conflicting 
rumors  to  dispute  the  statements  made 
by  Fausett.  No  one  who  was  acquaint 
ed  with  Fausett,  knew  his  disposition  and 
habits,  doubted  his  statement  as  to  the 
death  of  the  British  general.  Freeman 
Lewis,  previously  referred  to,  stated  that 
his  last  interview  with  Fausett  was  in 
the  month  of  October,  1816,  and  that 
Fausett  then  claimed  to  be  one  hundred 
and  four  years  of  age,  and  that  his  ap 
pearance  bore  him  out,  and  that  some  of 
Fausett's  statements  were  "wholly  irre 
concilable  with  well  ascertained  facts." 
Who  would  expect  an  illiterate  man  at 


Rebecca  Fausett, 
Grand-daughter  of  Joseph   Fausett 


SHADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS 


that  extreme  age  to  relate  circumstances 
in  detail  with  perfect  accuracy  that  had 
transpired  a  half  century  before? 

Winthrop  Sargent  in  his  "Braddock's 
Expedition"  goes  some  length  to  dis 
prove  the  statements  made  by  Faucett, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  adduces  the 
evidence  of  William  Butler  who  had  ser 
ved  as  a  private  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Greens  at  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  and 
under  Forbes  in  1758,  and  under  Wolf 
in  1759,  at  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  who 
when  interrogated  as  to  the  killing  of 
Braddock  unhesitatingly  declared  that 
he  was  shot  by  Fausett  for  striking  down 
his  brother.  The  Millerstown  (Perry 
county,  Pa.)  Gazette  of  1830,  mentions 
the  fact  that  Butler  was  in  that  town  in 
company  with  another  who  had  served 
under  Braddock  and  that  both  concur 
red  in  saying  that  Braddock  had  been 
killed  by  Fausett. 

The  Colonization  Herald  (Philadel 
phia)  of  June  20.  1838,  contained  the 
notice  of  the  death  of  William  Butler  at 
the  age  of  one  hundred  and  eight  years, 
and  further  states  that  he  had  lived  at 
the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Chestnut  streets, 
which  was  then  in  woods  and  leaning  on 


132  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

his  crutch,  often  entertained  visitors  by 
a  recital  of  the  unfortunate  expedition 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  death  of 
Braddock. 

The  evidence  of  Billy  Brown,  a  negro 
living  at  Frankfort,  Pennsylvania,  taken 
in  1826,  when  he  was  ninety- three  years 
of  age  is  also  adduced  to  confirm  Fau- 
sett's  story.  He  was  born  in  Africa  and 
brought  as  a  slave  to  this  country  at  an 
early  age.  He  was  present  at  Brad- 
dock's  defeat  as  a  servant  to  a  colonel 
in  the  Irish  regiment.  He  relates  that 
Braddock's  character  was  obstinate  and 
profane  and  he  also  confirms  the  report 
that  Braddock  was  shot  by  an  American 
because  he  had  killed,  or  was  supposed 
to  have  killed,  his  brother,  and  that  none 
seemed  to  care  for  it. 

Daniel  Adams  of  Newberryport,  Mas 
sachusetts,  states  that  in  1842,  it  had 
been  told  him  by  one  who  had  it  from 
another  who  was  present  at  the  occur 
rence  that  the  principal  officers  had  de 
sired  a  retreat  which  the  general  per 
tinaciously  refused  and  upon  seeing  the 
rashness  of  the  commander  a  brother  of 
one  who  had  been  stricken  down  fired 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS          133 

the  fatal  shot,  which  several  of  the  sol 
diers  witnessed  but  said  nothing. 

Historian  Sargent  in  his  effort  to  dis 
prove  that  Braddock  met  his  death  at 
the  hands  of  Fausett  not  only  admits  but 
certainly  establishes  the  fact  that  such 
was  the  current  belief  at  the  time  among 
those  in  position  to  know. 

A  still  further  witness  who  heretofore 
has  entirely  escaped  the  notice  of  the 
historian  is  James  Edwards,  who  was 
a  captain  in  one  of  the  Associated  Com 
panies  of  Kent  County,  now  Delaware,  in 
August,  1748,  in  the  service  of  the  Pro 
vince  of  Pennsylvania.  He  enlisted  in 
Braddock's  campaign,  and  in  the  defeat 
was  wounded  in  the  leg  by  a  musket  ball, 
which  he  carried  to  his  grave.  He  subse 
quently  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war 
in  Colonel  Thomas  Proctor's  celebrated 
artillery  in  preference  to  infantry  on  ac 
count  of  his  wounded  leg,  and  served  at 
Brandy  wine,  Chadd's  Ford,  Newtown, 
Germantown,  Bergen  Neck  and  Trenton. 
Mr.  Edwards  finally  settled  at  Barnegat, 
New  Jersey,  where  he  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  He  too  lived  to  an  advanced 
age  and  frequently  related  the  scenes  of 


134  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

Braddock's  defeat  and  always  positively 
asserted  that  the  unfortunate  general 
was  killed  by  one  of  his  own  men  by  the 
name  of  Fausett  for  striking  down  his 
brother  and,  as  he  thought,  uselessly 
sacrificing  the  lives  of  his  soldiers.  Mr. 
Edwards  was  an  ardent  admirer  of 
Washington  and  in  his  old  age  expressed 
his  willingness  to  depart  and  join  his 
"dear  old  General,  Washington,"  whom 
he  believed  to  be  "one  of  the  brightest 
stars  in  the  region  of  glory."  Mr.  Ed- 
Avards  is  buried  in  the  Methodist  Church 
yard  at  Tuckerton,  New  Jersey. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Braddock's 
army  precipitately  fled  from  the  fatal 
field  and  scattered  like  leaves  before  the 
hurricane,  but  Sargent  does  not  account 
for  the  fact  that  William  Butler,  of  Phila 
delphia,  and  Billy  Brown  of  Frankfort, 
Pennsylvania  and  Daniel  Adams  of  New- 
berryport,  Massachusetts,  and  James  Ed 
wards  of  New  Jersey,  and  many  others, 
having  no  communication  whatever  with 
each  other  all  concurred  in  relating  sub 
stantially  the  same  story  as  Fausett  un 
less  they  had  gotten  these  facts  before 
the  army  was  disbanded  at  Fort  Cum 
berland  on  the  retreat. 


BRADDOCK'S  EXPEDITIONS          135 

The  evidence  here  adduced  is  certain 
ly  all  that  would  be  necessary  to  war 
rant  conviction  in  a  court  of  justice  were 
Fausett  on  trial  for  having  fired  the  fatal 
shot  at  the  British  general. 

Tom   Fausett  Becomes   a  Charge  Upon 
the  Township  of  Wharton. 

For  some  years  before  his  death  Tom 
Fausett  became  a  charge  upon  the  town 
ship  of  Wharton,  and  it  was  the  custom 
to  sell  out  paupers  to  the  lowest  bid 
der.  In  an  old  book  still  extant,  kept  by 
the  overseers  of  the  poor  for  that  town 
ship,  are  the  following  entries: 

"March  20,  1812,  Be  it  remembered 
that  James  Wear  has  undertaken  to  keep 
Thomas  Fausett  for  the  space  of  one 
year  for  the  sum  of  thirty-seven  dollars 
and  seventy-five  cents  exclusive  of  find 
ing  him  any  clothing. 

March  19,  1813,  Samuel  Spaugh  under 
takes  to  keep  Thomas  Fausett  one  year 
for  the  sum  of  thirty-seven  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents,  exclusive  of  finding 
him  any  clothing. 

April  4,  1814,  For  the  keeping  of  Fau- 


136  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

sett  for  one  year,  fifty-seven  dollars.  For 
selling  Fausett  in  1814,  $1.00. 

For  the  keeping  of  Fausett  for  the  year 
1815,  $39.80. 

March  15,  1816,  Be  it  remembered  that 
Thomas  Mitchell  undertakes  to  keep 
Thomas  Fausett,  one  of  the  poor  of 
Wharton  township,  for  one  year  for 
forty-eight  dollars,  exclusive  of  finding 
him  clothing. 

March  21,  1817,  Be  it  remembered  that 
Edward  Tissue  undertakes  to  keep 
Thomas  Fausett,  one  of  the  poor  of 
Wharton  township,  exclusive  of  finding 
him  clothing,  for  one  year  for  $37.50. 

March  20,  1818,  Be  it  remembered  that 
Thomas  Mitchell  undertakes  to  keep 
Thomas  Fausett,  one  of  the  poor  of 
Wharton  township,  exclusive  of  finding 
him  clothing  for  twenty-eight  dollars  and 
fifty  cents,  the  time  not  to  commence  un 
til  the  24th  of  April. 

April  24,  1819,  Be  it  remembered  that 
Thomas  Mitchell  undertakes  to  board, 
lodge  and  wash  and  mend  and  find  tobac 
co  for  Thomas  Fausett  for  one  year  from 
this  date  for  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars. 

Auditors'  report  for  1819.  By  noticing 
the  sale  of  Fausett  for  the  present  year, 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          137 

50  cents,  tobacco  for  Fausett,  25  cents, 
paid  for  keeping  Fausett  twenty-eight 
dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

April  24,  1819.  By  one  day  selling  Fau- 
cett  and  settling  with  auditors,  $1.00. 

1820,  Contra.  Moses  Mercer  and  John 
Bolin,  overseers  of  the  poor,  Cr.  by  keep 
ing  Thomas  Fausett,  fifty  dollars. 

By  Fausett  clothing  and  Mercer,  his 
attendance,  sixty-two  dollars  and  seven 
ty-five  cents." 

From  this  last  entry  it  would  appear 
that  poor  old  Tom  had  been  deprived  of 
clothing  until  he  had  no  further  use  of 
the  same.  Then  the  township  furnished 
a  suit  in  order  that  he  might  appear  the 
more  respectable  in  the  happy  hunting 
grounds. 

This  last  entry  in  this  old  township 
book  would  indicate  that  Tom  Fausett 
died  in  1820,  and  that  Moses  Mercer  was 
in  attendance  at  his  death  and  burial,  and 
that  the  overseers  of  the  poor  settled  the 
bill  of  expenses.  From  the  fact  that  Fau- 
cett's  name  does  not  again  appear  on  the 
book  the  inference  would  be  reasonable 
that  he  died  during  the  year  1820. 

For  some  years  before  his  death  Fau 
sett  made  his  home  in  a  little  log  cabin 


138  WASHINGTON'S  AND 

which  stood  on  what  was  subsequently 
the  Frederick  Nicolay  farm  about  one 
mile  and  a  half  west  of  Ohiopyle  Falls. 
Here  he  cultivated  among  other  things  a 
little  patch  of  tobacco  for  his  own  use 
which  he  husbanded  with  the  greatest 
care.  This  old  cabin,  like  its  tenant,  has 
long  since  passed  away,  but  after  nearly 
a  half  century  had  rolled  away  since  the 
death  of  its  distinguished  occupant,  Mr. 
Nicolay  was  plowing  near  the  site  of  the 
old  cabin,  a  few  stones  of  the  old  chim 
ney  only  remaining,  near  which  his  plow 
turned  up  a  small  box  containing  a 
quantity  of  silver  coins  and  jewelry.  He 
took  his  find  to  Pittsburgh  for  the  pur 
pose  of  ascertaining  its  value,  the  coins 
being  in  different  denominations  of  for 
eign  money  such  as  was  current  in  those 
early  days,  and  placed  it  in  charge  of  an 
old  acquaintance  and  well  known  banker 
of  that  city,  but  notwithstanding  his 
frequent  inquiries  he  died  before  he  as 
certained  the  value  or  recovered  his  valu 
able  discovery. 

The  finding  of  this  box  of  jewelry  and 
coin  revived  the  story  that  was  current 
in  the  mountain  region  of  Wharton 
township  many  years  before,  as  pre- 


Grave  of  Thomas  Fansett 


BRADDOCK'S   EXPEDITIONS          139 

viously  related,  that  a  peddler  had  been 
murdered  at  the  Peddlers  Rocks  near  the 
cabin  of  Fausett,  and  the  discovery  of 
this  box  with  its  peculiar  contents  would 
indicate  that  Fausett  might  have  known 
somewhat  of  the  missing  peddler. 

Fausett's  last  home  was  in  the  family 
of  Thomas  Mitchell,  about  two  miles 
west  of  Ohiopyle  Falls.  He  was  buried 
in  a  small  burying  ground  on  what  was 
known  as  the  Jacob  H.  Rush  farm,  since 
occupied  by  the  late  Patton  Rush,  where 
also  rest  the  remains  of  many  of  the  old 
residents  of  that  neighborhood.  Some 
years  after  his  death  a  rude  headstone 
was  erected  to  his  memory  on  which  is 
inscribed  the  following: 

THO  FAUCET 

died 
March  23 

1822 
Aged  109 

9  mos 

Thus  is  marked  the  last  resting  place 
of  the  slayer  of  Major  General  Edward 
Braddock,  and  on  each  recurring  memo 
rial  day  a  flag  and  a  few  flowers  are 
placed  on  the  little  mound  of  earth  to 
keep  his  memory  green. 


LOAN  DEPT 


-->«*ss3cr 


Renewedb^subiecttou 

3W64BGX 
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I 


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